SEC power rankings after week 1 - 2: LSU
The Tigers take a huge jump here after an astoundingly impressive defensive performance against Clemson on the road. The defense for the Bayou Bengals looks absolutely night and day from how it did last year, showing that the heavy transfer portal usage may have just paid off for the Tigers.
Brian Kelly finally gets his first win in a season opener since taking the job down in Baton Rouge, and the Tigers will no doubt ascend the AP Poll rankings pretty quickly here. They'll have another test with Florida in week three and Ole Miss in week five, but if they weather those storms, this is a team that could be a true contender for the top overall spot sooner rather than later.
The worry for me is that Nussmeier didn't quite look otherworldly in this game. It was more the defense lifting the team than it was him, and the uneven play of Cade Klubnik in the past gives me a little bit of pause that this was entirely a defensive transformation for LSU— maybe it had more to do with continued dysfunction on Clemson's offense.
Still, there was quite a bit to like here, which is why the Tigers are up here. They have quite a few ranked teams ahead, so they'll have a gauntlet to run before all is said and done.