The Saints are coming: The Saints have been a couple of botched plays and close losses from making the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. So as they take the field for the opening practices of training camp today, optimism abounds regarding their chances of returning to the ranks of postseason contenders. Drew Brees and his league-leading offense remain intact, after all, and now the hope is that key coaching and personnel changes on defense will complete the package. So far, Coach Sean Payton says he likes what he’s seen from the team. “I thought it was good this morning,” Payton told the Times-Picayune after the first practice today. “It was the first time to see these guys in pads. I thought it was a good start.” The team moved its afternoon practice indoors because of storms, reports the Times-Picayune.
A good run: LSU finished fifth in a CBSSports.com list of the best college football teams of the decade. The Tigers, the first team to win two BCS Championship Games, ranked high because of their tough defense and the recruiting base built by former coach Nick Saban and maintained by coach Les Miles. “We are left with one of the most amazing stats of the decade: LSU had four players drafted in the first round of the 2007 draft, then won that year’s national championship,” CBS says. Southern Cal, the Tigers’ long-distance rival for much of the 2000s, ranked first, followed by Oklahoma, Texas and Florida, the only other team to win two BCS championships. Other SEC teams to make the top 20 list include Georgia at eight, Tennessee at 16 and Auburn at 19. See the list here.
