The favorites in the SEC are easy to point to, and expect them to meet in Atlanta, if not the College Football Playoff and national championship. Picking a sleeper team is a different story.

And for ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, he pointed to LSU, largely because of the disappointing 5-5 season last year that caused the program to restructure and retool the coaching staff. Herbstreit revealed the pick on “The Herbies,” an annual show to preview the season.

“A sleeper, there’s a few for me, but I’m gonna say LSU,” he said, per 247Sports. “I keep talking about (Derek Stingley). This is a team that not only had a bad year, they were embarrassed. They were humiliated a year ago. I got to believe there’s too much pride on that roster for LSU to go through what they went through last year. They open up with UCLA, and if there’s ever a team that needs a win to kind of recalibrate and get their confidence established in 2021 it’s LSU and Coach O. And that will not be an easy game against Chip Kelly. I think the Bruins are much better, and that’s not a slam dunk if you’re an LSU fan.”