re: If LSU "O" moves to 40 out of 120, what will be our 2010 record?

In response to the post about the importance/unimportance of the actual ranking, I think that the real issue is this: the offense was downright terrible last year and the ranking is just one way of conveying that. If we move to #40 or so, it will almost certainly mean that the O is playing well, maybe even very well. I tend to believe that you will these things if this happens:

LSU will not struggle so much to win games when it has a talent advantage. For example, games like Miss State and La Tech would not be nearly so close. This also decreases the chance of an ugly upset (sure, we avoided them last year, but we could have lost a game like that) Games with smaller talent edges or equal talent are more likely to go LSU's way. Say that this gives us 2 of 3 against Ole Miss, Arky, and Penn State instead of 1 of 3). In games where we arguably have a slight talent disadvantage, inspired play is more likely to net a slight upset victory (maybe 1 of 2 against Bama and Florida).

So, I say 10-2 with a shot at 11-1 if the O becomes a top 40 offense statistically.