Yes, there is some miraculous formula by which LSU could make the Southeastern Conference Championship Game despite its worst start in more than a decade.
No, you should not be thinking about this formula during every game. It would be more beneficial to keep your expectations realistic.
Being realistic and reasonable isn’t exactly the most popular thing in this age of college football. People’s infatuation with the sport has created a new existence in which no team is average, and everyone is given a label.
This type of thinking leads to teams getting multiple labels throughout the season, and LSU is a fine example.
Remember, this is a team that fans wanted to crucify earlier in the season, a team that allegedly had no strengths and was headed to a 0-8 conference record. With two losses, the conversation changed from if LSU could win the conference to if LSU could make a bowl game.
Someone with a more reasonable mind sat down and realized LSU is young and probably won’t put it together until midway through the year. This same person also realized LSU had too much talent to lose to Kentucky.
But a reasonable mind isn’t going to dominate conversations or receive retweets with its opinions, so most people tend to think bolder. In a 24-hour news cycle, there always has to be a certain declaration about a team. The team is either great or terrible, with no in between.
Think about what this does to the players, who one week are told they’re the scum of the earth and the next week are up for canonization. One week LSU students file out of the stadium, giving their team no chance of coming back, and another week they’re on the field celebrating with the team.
I know this may shatter some fans’ universes, but winning the SEC and a national championship is hard. You have to be great and need 40 breaks to go your way, and a lot of pretty good teams are left in the shuffle.
LSU, like it or not, is one of those pretty good teams. It will probably win two of its last three games and make an appearance in the Peach Bowl. A win there would give the team 10 wins, and that’s nothing to be ashamed about.
I’m not saying the chance for LSU to win the SEC West is impossible. The Tigers should be favored in two of their last three games, and beyond that they only need other SEC teams to win at home.
Fans need to remember, this is still a young team with the potential to have a down game. LSU could win or lose any of the next three games and it wouldn’t be surprising. That’s just the beast of the SEC, and it doesn’t require any overreaction.
All of this will be forgotten if the Tigers upset Alabama next weekend. A win against the Tide will make LSU elite in most fans’ eyes, and those early-season losses to Auburn and Mississippi State will be all but erased. This is exactly the mindset fans should lose.
If LSU wins Saturday, look past the instant analysis and think about the team through the entire scope of the season. You’ll find an opinion unsuitable for talking heads, but one perfect for assessing your team.
Tommy Romanach is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Dallas, Texas. You can reach him on Twitter @troman_92.