re: Talent solves the world's problem on offense

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Why not just take the recruiting rankings every year and declare the team with the best class champion? After all, it's all about talent

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Uhh except that more often than not, that is exactly how it works. I'm tired of having to argue this point around here but fine, here we go again...

Here are the 3-year average recruiting class rankings for the national championship winners and losers going bck to 2007:
Year - NC Winner Rank / NC Loser Rank
2017 - 1.00 / 5.00
2016 - 12.00 / 1.00
2015 - 1.00 / 13.33
2014 - 3.33 / 18.00
2013 - 5.67 / 8.67
2012 - 2.00 / 13.67
2011 - 2.67 / 6.00
2010 - 16.67 / 25.33
2009 - 6.00 / 5.67
2008 - 2.67 / 11.00
2007 - 9.00 / 57.00

And since the biggest factor affecting whether or not any team from the SEC West can get to a national championship is Bama, let's look at the recruiting class rankings for Bama vs. LSU since 2007:
Year - Alabama / LSU
2018 - 5 / 15
2017 - 1 / 7
2016 - 1 / 2
2015 - 1 / 5
2014 - 1 / 2
2013 - 1 / 6
2012 - 1 / 13
2011 - 1 / 8
2010 - 4 / 9
2009 - 1 / 1
2008 - 3 / 13
2007 - 12 / 5

Recruiting is everything in college football. I’d bet Saban’s success at Bama since the GotC is 10% X’s and O’s, 15% team discipline, and 75% recruiting #1 classes in 8 of the last 9 years.

Maybe you have to keep repeating yourself because the reasoning is just an easy way to justify O's performance.

If Alabama and LSU had the same roster, LSU would lose every time. Alabama has lost to lesser teams. Hell, scoring on them would be an improvement from where we are today. And using them as a gateway to the playoffs is disingenuous, 11-1 with a close loss to Bama absolutely gets us in every year.

Look at LSU's recruiting ranking over the last 6 or 7 years, averages top 10 peaking at 2 the year fournette came in. Then look at the teams LSU loses to or even ones that score on Bama. Troy, A&M, Florida, etc. Does that recruiting ranking argument hold water then? If it doesn't work both ways it doesn't work at all. Just looking at the numbers you posted seems like NC title losers are routinely outside of the top 10 in rankings and LSU doesn't sniff the playoffs.

At a certain point to get these recruiting classes LSU will have to be an underdog and win, which is demonstrably possible. Unfortunately our coaching staff apparently needs a stacked NFL roster to do it.

Guess how many points our OC has against Bama in 2 games.

Go ahead, guess.

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Maybe you have to keep repeating yourself because the reasoning is just an easy way to justify O's performance.

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I’m not trying to justify anything. Recruiting is part of the coach’s job, no? I am trying to get people to realize that recruiting is a bigger factor than offensive scheme.

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If Alabama and LSU had the same roster, LSU would lose every time.

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And you know this based on what evidence, exactly?

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Look at LSU's recruiting ranking over the last 6 or 7 years, averages top 10 peaking at 2 the year fournette came in.

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You’re right, since the GotC LSU averages a #7 recruiting class with a high of #2 (twice). In the same span, Bama averages a #2 class (1.5 really) with #1 classes 6/7 years.

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Then look at the teams LSU loses to or even ones that score on Bama. Troy, A&M, Florida, etc. Does that recruiting ranking argument hold water then?

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Florida averages a #10 class over the same time period, during which we are 4-3 against them. Texas A&M averages a #12 class and we beat them seven times in a row followed by a 7OT loss. You think those seven losses in a row were all due to scheme? I mean they are only averaging 5 spots behind us in recruiting after all.

Yeah, we lost to Troy. Inexcusable. No, the best team does not always win. But it’s an outlier. If we played them 7 straight times like Florida and aTm we would be 6-1.

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Just looking at the numbers you posted seems like NC title losers are routinely outside of the top 10 in rankings and LSU doesn't sniff the playoffs.

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Here are those NC title losers you’re referring to, since 2011:
- Notre Dame (Independent)
- Oregon (Pac-12)
- Clemson (ACC)
Which brings me to my next point..

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11-1 with a close loss to Bama absolutely gets us in every year.

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Oh, is that all we need to do? It’s a hell of a lot easier to go 11-1 in the ACC, Pac-12, or even SECe than in the SECw with an annual east matchup against Florida. Serious question - how many 11+ win seasons do you think LSU would have since 2012 if we played Clemson’s schedule every year?

In that time frame, an SEC school has finished with 11+ regular season wins 11 times: Alabama (7x), Georgia (3x, never in a year they played Bama in regular season), and Auburn (1x, kick-6 season).

At the end of the day, if we want to get back to being in the title hunt we have to win (or at least play in) the SEC championship. If we want to win the SEC we have to win our division. If we want to win our division we have to beat Alabama. If we want to beat Alabama on the field, we have to out-recruit them.

Again, it’s the coach’s job to recruit. I just think we should be asking ourselves how we can get #1 classes on a routine basis instead of bickering about the team’s screen game.

There are not 70+ teams that played LSU's schedule nor played against the defenses.