College football analyst Phil Steele prides himself on projecting the teams to watch ahead of each college football season. This year, he has 12 surprise teams that Steele believes are capable of a title, but aren’t getting enough preseason love.

“After an ugly 5-5 season last year this team is capable of surprising some folks this year and is my No. 2 most improved team in the country,” Steele wrote in his popular preseason magazine.

To some, this is a crucial season for coach Ed Orgeron, who has hired new defensive, offensive, and passing game coordinators in order to address the issues that impacted last year’s team. The Tigers return a majority of their starters from last season, and much of the preseason focus will be on the quarterback competition between Myles Brennan and Max Johnson.

LSU junior cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and senior offensive tackle Austin Deculus will join Ed Orgeron at SEC Media Days on Monday in Hoover, Alabama.

Despite missing three games because of injuries in 2020, Stingley was a first-team All-SEC player by the Associated Press as chosen by the league coaches last season. He was a consensus first-team All-American in 2019 as a freshman.

Deculus, the Tigers’ right tackle, has started 34 games at LSU and played in 49 in all.

Here is the list of teams that fit Steele’s category:

12. Iowa
11. Oregon
10. TCU
9. Arizona State
8. Penn State
7. Texas
6. LSU
5. Miami
4. Utah
3. Southern Cal
2. Wisconsin
1. Washington

H/T 247Sports.