Kris Brauner from Saturday Night Slant: Les Miles is no stooge, and Jordan Jefferson isn't either

Sometimes football fans make the mistake of belittling or discounting the opposition as a shortcut to confidence before a big game. This kind of whistling in the dark won't work against the LSU Tigers, who are ranked fourth in the country and among the favorites in the SEC for a number of reasons, beginning with a fierce, athletic defense and a veteran offensive line.

But two of the reasons fans often give for underrating the Tigers deserve reexamination. Kris Brauner, who runs the excellent LSU Tiger blog Saturday Night Slant, gives a forceful rebuttal to two of the most frequent lazy assumptions outsiders make about LSU football. These excerpts are taken from a guest article Brauner wrote for the new website, "The Crystal Ball Run:"

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