There were 3 SEC football coaches pictured on the front page of the Birmingham News on Friday — Auburn coach Gene Chizik, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin.
LSU coach Les Miles, like the aforementioned 3, spoke Friday at the SEC Media Days news conferences here, but he did not make the front cut(of the paper).
How quickly they forget. Last season, Miles was the toast of suburban Birmingham as LSU was coming off the 2007 National Championship and would be picked No. 6 in the nation going into the season. On Friday, the buzz instead followed Kiffin, a first-year coach who has created as much of a stir with his mouth as with his recruiting. On Thursday, it was mostly about defending national champion Florida and defending West champ Alabama.
LSU, which had its worst regular season and SEC records this decade last season at 7-5 and 3-5, is in a strange place. The Tigers were picked to finish second in the West behind Alabama by reporters Friday, but they are decidedly under the radar.
"I think by winning a championship is how we're measured," said Miles, who won the SEC West title in his first season in 2005. "I understand how that happens. But it's not any fun."
The Tigers lost five of their last eight regular season games in 2008 and came close to a monumental upset at the hands of 19-point underdog Troy at home before erasing a 31-3 third quarter deficit to win 40-31. Ole Miss enjoyed its most lopsided victory over LSU — 31-13 — since 1992. Arkansas at 4-7 became the first team with such a poor record to defeat an LSU team with a winning record since 3-7 Tulane upset the 8-1-1 Tigers in 1982. LSU's defense blew a 30-14 lead in the third quarter at Arkansas to lose 31-30.
"I can tell you that that will not happen again," Miles said of the Arkansas game.
LSU became the first defending national champ since USC in 1975 to finish below .500 in conference.
"I certainly understand what happened at the back end of last year," Miles stated. The SEC Rocks!
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