Josh Pate Believes College Football Powerhouse's Top 10 Ranking Is 'Laughable'

A 2-0 SEC team sits isn't being given enough respect in college football's Week 3 AP Poll

College football analyst Josh Pate | Josh Pate's College Football Show/YouTube

College football analyst Josh Pate says Associated Press voters got LSU wrong again, slotting the 2-0 Tigers at No. 7 while giving Indiana the No. 4 spot for beating North Texas and Howard.

"LSU at seven is laughable," Pate said on his show after the Week 3 poll came out, and he argued that voters are still grading teams off the ballots they submitted in August.

LSU's 2-0 start under Lane Kiffin

LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin reacts to an interception by Louisiana Tech Bulldogs during the first half at Tiger Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

LSU coach Lane Kiffin opened his first season in Baton Rouge by beating Clemson 51-10 at Tiger Stadium on Sept. 5. The Tigers gained 644 yards and held Clemson to 145. Quarterback Sam Leavitt, who transferred in from Arizona State, threw for 230 yards and ran for 113 more in his debut.

Week 2 was messier. LSU beat Louisiana Tech 45-14 on Sept. 12, but Leavitt threw three interceptions and one of them went back 100 yards for a touchdown. The Bayou Bengals led only 10-7 at halftime before scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half. They finished the night with 528 yards and 101 penalty yards.

LSU started the season ranked No. 11. The Tigers moved up to No. 8 after the Clemson win, then to No. 7 after Louisiana Tech.

Why does Indiana rank above LSU?

Indiana's Josh Hoover (10) runs during the game against Howard | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Indiana holds the No. 4 spot as the defending national champion. The Hoosiers beat North Texas 52-16 and shut out Howard 55-0, outscoring the two opponents by a combined 107-16. Neither team plays in a Power Four conference. North Texas also outgained Indiana 367-365 in the opener, even though the Bloomington school won by 36 points.

The four teams ahead of LSU are Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame and Indiana. Texas took over the top spot after rallying past Ohio State 24-23, and the Buckeyes fell to No. 6.

Pate's problem is the order, not the idea that Indiana is good.

"Outside of that, there's no way that you look at what LSU's done so far and look at what Indiana's done and say, 'Oh, Indiana's resume warrants top five whereas LSU's does not,'" Pate said.

He wants voters to wait on results instead of leaning on what they expected over the summer.

"I don't even care if you think Indiana's going to be better. Wait for them to prove it. Is that not how voting should work?" Pate said.

He made a similar argument a week earlier, when the Tigers sat at No. 8, and some individual ballots had them as low as 16th.

LSU's next test at Ole Miss

Mississippi Rebels Head Coach Pete Golding reacts with safety Anthony Robinson III (20) during warm ups prior to the game against the Charlotte 49ers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

LSU plays at Ole Miss on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Oxford will serve as host to ESPN's "College GameDay". The Rebels are 2-0 and ranked No. 8, one spot behind the Tigers.

The game sends Kiffin back to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, where he coached for six seasons before taking the LSU job in late November 2025. Ole Miss coach Pete Golding was promoted from defensive coordinator and led the Rebels to a College Football Playoff semifinal last season. Ole Miss beat LSU 24-19 in Oxford in 2025.