LSU athletics are humming

I’m a proud graduate of Louisiana State University and look, anyone who knows me knows that it’s a lifestyle: I’m a Tiger through and through.

I follow every LSU sport year-round.

When LSU wins, I’m a happy camper. When they don’t, I tend to bicker and be a bit of a grump — sometimes even in our pages in this Casey’s Corner column.

So for loyal readers who’ve followed closely, you know that I’ve not always been kind to LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva and some of the moves he’s made during his tenure with the Tigers.

But look, I was always taught that if ‘ya want to be outspoken about something, then you’d better be willing to eat the crow if you’re wrong.

So I’m here to say that Joe Alleva has done far more good than made in the past 2-3 years and the entire LSU athletic department is cooking with grease right now.

Seriously, what is there to complain about right now as an LSU fan?

The football team is humming.

Hiring Ed Orgeron to lead the program was a grand slam home run (much like we said it would be and much to the dismay of the big wigs in Baton Rouge who wanted a sexier hire).

Les Miles fans will talk about his winning percentage and all of the fluff he generated during his decade in Baton Rouge.

But look, the facts are the facts. The football team in Baton Rouge right now is 14-17 points better than the team when Miles was fired.

The Tigers have more depth, are recruiting better (especially at the line of scrimmage) and have an identity. Gone are the toss-dives, power runs into crowded boxes and stubborn play-calling.

LSU fans still may not be crazy about Steve Ensminger, but I think that even with his flaws, he’s doing a nice job compared to regimes of the past.

ESPN’s power ranking index has LSU ranked No. 4 entering next season. It’s time to chase some championships.

The same motto can be said of LSU baseball.

Like Alleva, I’ve been critical of Paul Mainieri in the past. I think he makes excuses too often to cover up his shortcomings in recruiting — mistakes that plague the team’s depth and make them vulnerable in postseason play.

But look, for all my bickering and complaining about how far the Tigers are from their glory days in the 1990s, there is absolutely, positively no doubt about the Tigers’ team this spring.

LSU is loaded at every, single position — a bonafide No. 1 team in the country to start the season, a team that looks poised to win more than 40 games, easily, if not closer to 50.

The Tigers made the College World Series Championship Series two years ago, then took a step backward last spring.

But this year, they’re experienced, battle-tested and have household names all over the field — guys like Daniel Cabrera, Zach Watson, Antoine Duplantis, Zack Hess and others.

In my opinion, the LSU baseball team should make Omaha 8 times out of every 10 years, so maybe my standards a little bit high. I think they’re the Kentucky basketball of college baseball and it’s not asking much to be in the final 8 almost annually in a sport that has little-to-no parity and which half of the country can’t take seriously because of cold weather.

But even with lesser expectations, one can objectively say that this is a team that has to go to Omaha or bust. The talent is there.

No more excuses.

I think they’ll get it done.

But perhaps the biggest shining spot in the LSU athletic department right now is the men’s basketball team — a group that’s taking the LSU nation by storm this spring.

I predicted when LSU hired Will Wade that he would completely revamp Tigers basketball for the better.

Look, there simply wasn’t any other direction to go but up.

Johnny Jones is a good man, but he never was the right man for this job. He recruits pretty well, but what’s the use of recruiting if unable to run a program with discipline and schematic excellence?

The Tigers played pickup ball under Jones. The inmates ran the asylum. There was no structure, no discipline and LSU lost games to less-talented teams over and over again.

Will Wade is the opposite.

Under Wade, LSU is recruiting off the charts — getting some of the top players in the country, while keeping Louisiana’s best at home.

But more important than that, the Tigers also have swagger again. They’re playing with excitement, enthusiasm and have an identity.

In Wade’s first season, LSU climbed from the bottom the standings to the middle of the pack in the SEC.

This year, they’ve continued the climb and have catapulted to the top of the pack — already owning wins at Kentucky, at Ole Miss, at Arkansas and at Mississippi State.

Where it goes from here, no one yet knows. And certainly, there is a little piece of me that’s already dreading the idea of Wade getting a job offer from a “basketball school”.

But we can sweat those bullets when they come.

Right now, all is well in LSU land and this is a rare, low-stress time.

So we’re going to sit back and enjoy it while it lasts.

Ed OrgeronJOSE DELGADO | THE TIMES

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