Athlon has us pegged for dead last.

[blacklistedbully]

Yeah, I know I shouldn't put much stock in those pre-season rags, but LAST PLACE??

TSUN, AU & Bama all have to replace their starting QB. LSU has Jennings.

I can see why folks might think we'll be down due to losing Preston Smith, B Mac, D-Day, Beckwith, J-Rob, etc. But relative to losing your starting QB plus others? Am I missing something?

We have the best returning QB BY FAR. We may have one of the best WR corps. We will still be strong at RB, LB, and 1st-team DL (though not likely to have the depth). We may be better at DB.

Really, the only thing that really concerns me is the O-line (yes it's big), but I'm thinking we may be serviceable, given our apparent ability to develop players. Oh, and kicker/ST.

[Liverpooldawg]

Didn't they have us next to last last year?

[Dawg496]

Lol. We're gonna win the West.

[Schultzy]

Pre season Rankings are not really rankings and haven't been for years, they are just lists made by people selling lists. If we win for another decade straight they'll start ranking us higher.

[LC Dawg]

They already have a magazine out or just online? It's January. We haven't even signed this year's class. Schools like Ole Miss don't know how much attrition they're going to have to the penal system.
However, I hope everybody ranks us dead last and I hope our Heisman candidate quarterback takes it personally and sets records that won't be broken for a while.

[CJDAWG85]

They ALWAYS underestimate us. That magazine is garbage anyway.

[bluelightstar]

I agree it's crazy -- but dead last in the West isn't saying THAT much. There's a small margin of error in the West. Our last place team last year beat the 3rd place, the 5th place team, and was within one point of Alabama.

Somebody has to finish last -- I don't think it's us though. Quarterback is too important.

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

That's great news! Mullen will use it as motivation for the next 8 months! Love it!

[Sacrifice]

Man what a joke!! That guy probably wrote that article in 5 minutes, then played online video games the rest of the day..

[Maroonthirteen]

In other words, athlon sales in east ms are extremely low.

[Mutt the Hoople]

Athlon rates according to number of magazine and online subscriptions bought by fans of each skool. State fans buy the least, so they come in last.

[FlabLoser]

Every Athlon list:

1. Name brand team
2. Name brand team
3. Sexy glamorous buzz pick
4. Name brand team
6. Name brand team