LSU Vs Miami

Next stop, Arlington, Texas, at Jerry World for a tussle between the LSU Tigers and Miami Hurricanes.  While neither of these teams are at the height of their dynasties, I expect a hard fought struggle tonight!  SEC and ACC…Who will come out on top?  The SEC teams have already gone 12-1 this weekend, including 3-1 in the 4-games vs power 5 schools.  The ACC hasnt done too shabby either, going 9-2 so far this opening weekend.  On the downside, the two games that the ACC dropped were the only two games vs other power 5 schools.

Can the Hurricanes save face for the ACC?  To their credit, they are one of the few Power 5 schools to challenge themselves against top-tier competition.  Miami returns 14 starters, 7 on offense and 7 on defense.  They started last year 10-0 before falling to Pitt and eventual ACC champion Clemson in the conference title game.  Last year they were hot for most of the season with a mere 6 returning starters, bringing back 14 starters should bode well for Coach Mark Richt.  This is definitely a team on the rise.

Most of the country is not sure what to think of LSU.  Are they on the rise with Coach Orgeron or are they hanging on with recruits from Les Miles and on the way down? It really depends on who you ask.  The Tigers are returning less than half of last year’s starters from a 9-win team.  The defense is always stingy regardless of the turnover and the offense has been a run-first clunker for years now.  The question is whether the defense and special teams can prop up the offense for another big game.

The formula says that LSU WILL have the support for the offense and they will pull off the win 33-23 in Texas.  The pure talent and proximity to home for a “neutral-site” game will be the deciding factor in this one.  The current spread is Miami -3 but I am calling for the outright upset of the #8 team in this battle of top-25 teams.

     Elldee Sports