profwilson

This is actually a line from the piece:

"[LSU] has made a history out of soaking itself in the stink of the bayou."

That gives away the game right there. The outsized, irrationally negative response to LSU's coaching hires definitely has a strong dimension of regional prejudice to it. If Lane Kiffin and Will Wade were coaching at Ohio State right now, I guarantee you we wouldn't be seeing anything like the same level of outrage and contempt.

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how this hire was "messy"

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The Kiffin and Wade hires were "messy" for Ole Miss and N.C. State in the same way that Hiroshima was "messy" for the Japanese...

OK, perhaps an overstatement, but indulge me in a little hyperbole! :lol:

All hail General Wade!

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I would argue that it is bullshite because no public tax dollars are spent on athletics at LSU.

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Well, you might argue that, but you would be wrong. If a university accepts federal funds at all (which LSU obviously does), then Title IX applies.

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When did Austin Wells become Dominican?

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Um, when he was born? His Mom is Dominican.

He's more Dominican than Pasquantino is Italian.

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The team sucks. Everybody knows it.

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This may turn out to be true, but certainly not "everybody" knows it. Multiple ESPN college basketball analysts (including Jay Bilas), for example, have LSU as an NCAA tournament bubble team. Now, these same guys have 10-13 SEC teams in the tourney, so that assessment is not inconsistent with LSU ending up in the bottom third of the league. Given how grueling the SEC gauntlet will be, it is imperative that the Tigers rack up wins in the non-conference. The neutral-site and road games between November 28th and December 13th (Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, SMU, etc.) are especially important. If they can go into conference play at 11-2 or better, they have a reasonable chance to make the Tournament. If they don't, I think everyone would agree that it's time to go in another direction from a coaching standpoint.

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watching the same exact football game the last 4 years

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Really? You think the games this year look like "the same exact football game" as when Jayden Daniels was here, we had no defense, and were winning or losing 51-45? I swear, I think that some people who post on here live in an alternate football universe.

Now, to be clear, I don't think Kelly is above criticism. But to say that it's just "the same old thing" every year is just flat wrong. In fact, what is amazing is how we seem to have found a radically different formula for being good-but-not-great every year. I do think the expectation this year should be a playoff berth. It's still in play--we'll see if we get there.

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FPI is a power ranking on who would be favored on a neutral field

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Yeah, except that it's not even that. Ole Miss is a 1-point favorite at home against LSU. This means that Vegas would favor LSU on a neutral field, even though the Tigers are 11 spots lower in FPI. At the end of 2019, AFTER the playoffs in which LSU had obliterated everyone in their path and completed arguably the best season in college football history, FPI still had LSU 3rd. That tells you a lot. But, to be clear, it doesn't reflect "ESPN bias," as there is no human judgment in it. It's just a flawed formula.

USC is currently #25 in the AP poll and unranked in the coaches' poll, so they are marginal. Navy and NC State are the only other teams on their schedule even receiving votes, and they don't play a conference championship game. So yes, they could quite possibly "sort out their defense" as the season goes on, but how will we really know?

Notre Dame should be out of the conversation at this point. They have lost both of the games on their schedule against teams that will be ranked (though I suppose USC MIGHT end up as a ranked opponent), and they have no conference championship game. What could they possibly do against Purdue, Syracuse, Stanford, Pittsburgh, etc. to prove that they belong in the playoff? How could you let them in over, let's say, a 9-3 Texas A&M team?

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Miami will win by 30-35 points

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If you really believe this and are right, you should be able to make a fortune on an alternate line bet. Miami is only a touchdown favorite (7.5) at the open.