Josh Williams runs the ball and scores as the LSU Tigers take down Alabama 32-31 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA ,Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Lsu Vs Alabama Football 3 2436

Toward the end of the season, the LSU Tigers emerged as one of the most dominant teams in all of college football, even defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide and competing in the SEC championship game against the Georgia Bulldogs. But that still doesn’t mean the Tigers are more of a national title contender in 2023 than Alabama.

Alabama may be losing quarterback Bryce Young, star defender Will Anderson and top running back Jahmyr Gibbs to the draft, but ESPN analyst Bill Connelly still doesn’t think LSU is more of a title contender heading into 2023.

“I don’t think I do,” Bill Connelly said on the Paul Finebuam Show according to On3. “I mean, Alabama still recruits like Alabama and obviously we’re going to see some coordinator change. We’re going to see a quarterback change.”

Connelly acknowledged that Alabama could see a little bit of a dip next season, but he doesn’t see a major dropoff.

“Obviously, there are plenty of opportunities for them to fall a little bit, but my SP+ rankings, they haven’t ranked below like third in like 15 years. Until they fall off, maybe they’re not Georgia anymore or at this point maybe Georgia really is the single biggest power in sport, but I don’t know how we could think of Alabama as anything but number two or number three until they prove otherwise because they still have it,” Connelly said. “They proved against Kansas State at the end of the year. Their ceiling was still ridiculously high, even if they were more inconsistent than normal this year. I just can’t see it. I think they’re easily number two or three overall. And LSU could be top 10, but they have a couple more steps to take, I think.”

So for everyone thinking Alabama has fallen off, maybe reconsider.

[On3]