LSU Football: Contender or Pretender in 2016

Apr 16, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers wide receiver Dee Anderson runs for a gain during the Spring Game at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

LSU football enters 2016 with familiar expectations, can they do the unfamiliar and deliver on them?

If you’ve been following along with our contender or pretender series, you know how this works. For those of you only discovering this due to your love for LSU football, let me break it down a bit for you. Being a contender has nothing to do with bowl games or being better or worse than the year before. If LSU football is to be considered a contender for the 2016 season, they must have a realistic shot at least winning the SEC West in 2016. To see how the other teams we have covered thus far stack up, check out the links below.

More from SEC Football

The LSU football team entered the 2015 season with sky high expectations and hopes for a College Football Playoff birth. The Tigers went 9-3 after their season opener with McNeese State was cancelled. Although it will never reflect in the record books, that game would have been a win and 2015 should have been a 10 win season for LSU football. While most teams would consider a 10 win season a huge success (consider the Ole Miss hype for example), LSU football faithful were extremely disappointed. It took a victory over Texas A&M in the season finale for Les Miles to save his job and return as coach for the Tigers. Most fans won’t be happy with another 9-10 season without at least a victory over hated foe Alabama. Can LSU contend for an SEC West title? Or will LSU football have a new man on the sidelines in 2017?

Next: LSU Football- Contender