3 Reasons Why LSU Deserves to Be No. 1 in the College Football Playoff Rankings

The teams that will participate in the 2019 edition of the College Football Playoff have pretty much been locked up, but the seeding is still up for debate. Joe Burrow, Ed Orgeron, and LSU have arguably the most legitimate claim to the top spot in the country, while Ohio State has a seemingly equally valid case. When examined closer, however, it becomes clear that Burrow and the Tigers have the right to the No. 1 seed for these three reasons.

3. The Defense is Looking Legit

SEC Championship - Georgia v LSU / Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Everyone who wanted to take their shots at Dave Aranda's defense is looking pretty foolish right about now, as the Tigers have allowed offenses to complete just 42% of passes and average 2.6 yards per rush, all the while piling up 12 sacks in the last three games. The likes of Grant Delpit, Kristian Fulton, and freshman sensation Derek Stingley have once again made the Bayou Bengals a ferocious machine on defense. And with the help of Burrow and the red-hot offense, this unit is hitting its strides at the right time.

2. They Have 5 Wins Over Top-10 Teams

No one has beaten more elite teams than LSU this season / Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

While the win against Texas has clearly lost a lot of luster over the last few weeks, beating Florida, Auburn and Alabama in a four-week stretch, with the latter win coming in Tuscaloosa, is nothing short of astonishing. Detractors might like to point to the fact that they didn't throughly bludgeon the worst teams they played in the SEC this year like Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, but the fact that they faced four teams currently ranked in the Top 15 and beat them all, most of them pretty soundly, should give them the nod over the Buckeyes.

1. Their Demolition of No. 4 Georgia in SEC Title Game

No. 4 Georgia looked outmatched against LSU / Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

For the first half of the Big Ten Championship, Jack Coan, Jonathan Taylor, and Wisconsin punched Ohio State in the mouth, taking a 21-7 lead into halftime that necessitated an Buckeye comeback. LSU, meanwhile, barely broke a sweat against the fourth-best team in the country in Georgia. Jake Fromm looked totally shellshocked, while the running game was non-existent for the Bulldogs in a dominant 37-10 Tigers win that all but sealed the Heisman for Burrow. This performance alone should be enough to lock up the top spot for the Tigers.