College Football Rankings: How LSU Win Over Mississippi State Impacts Polls

LSU looks like they have a legitimate shot at being the best team in college football, and their big win over No. 25 Mississippi State may have solidified that belief.

They looked absolutely dominant against a team that was supposed to be able to give them fits.

The offense was methodical, and while it did have trouble at times, eventually they pulled ahead when it mattered in the fourth quarter.

What really impressed me was their defense. They were suffocating, physical and disrupted everything that MSU wanted to do offensively.  It looked like a defense that could take LSU to the BCS championship.

LSU held the Bulldogs to just six points on two field goals. To make matters even more impressive, they seemed to get better as the went on, and that is the sign of a truly great team.

As Mississippi State’s offense was tiring out in the second half, the Tigers were just getting their night started.

There is nothing more dangerous than a revved up and energetic defense putting pressure on a sluggish offense.

That is exactly what we saw out of the Tigers on Thursday night. Chris Low of ESPN writes more on the Tigers second half dominance:

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"LSU was dominant defensively in the first half Thursday. But when the second half rolled around, the Tigers absolutely turned the lights out on a Mississippi State offense that was averaging 588 yards in total offense...With a little more than five minutes remaining in the game, the Bulldogs had just 6 yards of total offense in the second half...Here's the other thing: How many teams could lose three players the caliber of Patrick Peterson, Kelvin Sheppard and Drake Nevis...All that does is further underscore how much talent is on this LSU defense, and much of it is concentrated in the freshman and sophomore classes."

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Now, the question at hand is whether or not this win will do much to impact the Tigers position in the polls.

I think that you can make the case for and against LSU changing in the polls.

Yes, this dominant win will resonate in the minds of voters not just now, but as well as in the future. That being said, the Tigers still have to play third fiddle to Oklahoma and Alabama, so their fate will ultimately be decided by those two schools.

That is where their chances of advancing in the polls is in doubt.

If the Sooners and the Tide pull out impressive victories themselves, than I don’t see much changing as far as the upcoming rankings.

The key word is impressive though, so based on that, I think LSU may be able to jump Alabama even if they were to win. Winning at home against North Texas is nowhere near as impressive as the Tigers beating MSU on the road, so when all is said and done I think they will overtake the Crimson Tide.

The No.1 spot will come down to Oklahoma and their epic showdown against Florida State though, so now all LSU fans can do is wait and see how that game plays out.

For now, I think it’s safe to say that LSU has a good shot to move up at least one spot on the rankings if all three teams come out with wins.