Preseason rankings are worthless.They’re all based on guesswork and employ no empirical data for their measurements.The rankings rely on past successes, predictions of the future by so-called experts, guessing games and the gut feelings of writers and coaches across the country.It’s a nice feather for a program to put in their cap before games are played, but it’s useless as a measure of a team’s talent.But at least a week of games should be played before teams are measured against one another to achieve a more accurate rating.Because of the amazingly flawed system in place, LSU’s No. 11 ranking is not entirely warranted.Not only does it give the impression that LSU was a good football team last season — which it wasn’t — but it gives fans unrealistic expectations of immediate success.In simple terms, LSU is overrated.The Tigers will improve this season, sure, but will they improve to the level of once again being one of the elite teams in the country and contending for a BCS bowl as their ranking would imply?Probably not, and those calls to declare LSU is “back” are premature.LSU still has a lot of questions on both sides of the ball that need to be answered before one could safely say the Tigers are where the rankings say they should be.The defense last season was  awful by LSU standards.In the first three seasons of LSU coach Les Miles’ tenure, the Tigers hadn’t finished lower than No. 3 in total defense. But in 2008, LSU finished No. 32 in total defense and allowed an average of 215 passing yards a contest this past season, which was good enough to be the No. 73 ranked defense in that category.The men who were responsible for the drop off were replaced in the offseason with hopes to return the Tigers back to true form. The addition of a new trio of coaches — defensive coordinator John Chavis, secondary coach Ron Cooper and defensive line coach Brick Haley — could help the unit, but then again, they may not.Most of Chavis’ seasons were good at Tennessee, but he’s had some not-so-good seasons as well.In 2003, his Volunteer defense finished No. 22 nationally in total defense; in 2004, they finished No. 45; in 2006, they finished at No. 50; and in 2007, his squad ended the season all the way down at No. 70.On offense, LSU faces the same situation it faced last season.There are slight differences, such as names and other minor details, but at the end of the day, the Tigers have a slew of signal-callers with very little in-game experience.Jarrett Lee has the most experience at the position, but Miles has already said the sophomore won’t see the field Saturday against Washington.As much as people would like to believe differently, sophomore Jordan Jefferson hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with his performances.He’s played in seven games with two starts and was “decent” at best.In his two starts last season, Jefferson completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 75 yards.Let’s examine things a little further — through two starts in 2008, Lee completed 63 percent of his passes for 470 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions. Lee lost 35 yards on the ground.The passing stats are slightly better for Jefferson, but he’s not nearly as accurate as Lee was in those two games.It’s just hard to believe he’s    going to be exceptionally better considering the only things that have changed about the offense are the loss of the No. 2 leading receiver and some linemen.Things could get worse for before they get better, but then again, LSU could catch a bunch of breaks and get back into a good bowl again.Perhaps those rankings should’ve waited. Follow Johanathan Brooks on Twitter @TDR_jbrooks.————Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]