Everyone Who Thought LSU Wouldn't Win the National Title Should Have Their Football Fandom Rescinded

Regardless of who you root for on a yearly basis, if you're an experienced fan, you generally have a feel for who the best team is, especially when said team continues to pass test after test en route to glory.

So for all of you who had any shred of doubt LSU would take home the hardware, it's time to retire from being a fan or take a long hard look in the mirror this offseason.

What more did LSU need to prove to you? This was the best team in College Football pretty much from the jump. While it doesn't look as impressive now, their Week 2 win over Texas on the road set the tone for a team that would go on to beat a number of other top programs, including No. 3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, a place the Tigers hadn't won since 2011 (which, coincidentally, was their last victory over the Crimson Tide).

The range of opponents this team faced only set them up for the biggest moment of their lives against Clemson in the National Championship. LSU had faced potent offenses in Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma as well as staunch defenses in Florida, Auburn and Georgia. With that body of work, to think Clemson was being "disrespected" in this game is just downright irresponsible.

Dabo Swinney and Co. faced one ranked team before their conference championship game, which was a home contest against what ended up being a very underwhelming Texas A&M team, one that LSU defeated 50-7. Their next ranked wins -- in their final two games before facing LSU -- came over No. 23 Virginia and No. 2 Ohio State, the latter of which was surrounded by controversial officiating in Clemson's favor.

To say that this National Championship matchup (before it began) mirrored the Clemson-Alabama installment last year was an insult to LSU. In 2019, Alabama didn't face as nearly as many challenges as LSU did this year. The Crimson Tide needed a miracle from Jalen Hurts to get by Georgia in the SEC Championship and their only truly convincing wins came in the form of a 29-0 victory at LSU and their CFP semifinal win over Oklahoma. Clemson's defense matched up well with an Alabama offense that was presented with little adversity. Make no mistake, Tua Tagovailoa and Bama's attack is impressive, but it wasn't quite the historic and record-setting unit led by Joe Burrow in Baton Rouge.

Throw all your stats out the window. Clemson's No. 3 scoring defense in the nation? Yup, that's a stat fully indicative of the weak competition they faced in 2019. Perhaps looking at Trevor Lawrence being ranked No. 10 in passing yards says more, as many would argue he should've been better than that against inferior defenses.

LSU had the numbers to back it up, but most importantly, the Tigers had the championship-feel as they plowed through college football, notched quality wins, and seemingly took the obvious natural progression to their title win.