Ed Orgeron on LSU being ranked No. 1: ‘I think it can be a blessing and I think it can be a curse’
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For the time being, LSU is the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
That could change once the initial College Football Playoff Rankings arrive next week, but for now, the Tigers hold the top spot in the AP Poll.
How does Ed Orgeron feel about that? While he didn’t mention Alabama when discussing the Tigers’ jumping ahead of the Crimson Tide, the AP’s previous top-ranked team, the LSU coach believes there is plenty of good and bad that can come with being the nation’s highest-ranked team.
There’s no doubt Nick Saban and company will be using that as motivation leading up to LSU’s trip to Tuscaloosa on Nov. 9.
While LSU may have already had a target on its back, that target just gets magnified with a No. 1 ranking.
“I think it’s great for the university, I think it’s great for our football team, I think it’s great for the fans, I think it’s great for the recruiting and I don’t think it means a hill of beans,” Orgeron said during his latest media availability. “All of that is good but we know what’s ahead of us, we know we have to win the games that we have to win to get where we want to go.
“Now, once the (College Football Playoff Rankings) starts, that’s what counts. I think it’s good but I think it can be a blessing and I think it can be a curse, as far as how you handle it. We do not talk about that in there, obviously, we all heard it, we all know it, but we never talked about being ranked No. 2, either. Or ranked No. 10 or No. 20, it doesn’t matter. It matters what you do when the ball is snapped.”
If you were unaware, the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2019 season will be revealed Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 9:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. CT on ESPN. Alabama, LSU and Ohio State will all be in the running for the top spot and all three have this weekend off, which means each team will be undefeated heading into the first CFP ranking of the season.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
