Postcard from camp: LSU

BATON ROUGE , La. -- Expectations hang over the LSU football program. Literally.

Six banners hang inside the immaculate practice bubble at the football complex. The first is an LSU football player with the words "National Championships" printed underneath.

The other banners go right on down the line in similar fashion -- SEC Championships, SEC West Championships, BCS Bowl Games, Bowl Games and then Tiger Stadium , a banner that projects that classic image of the venerable facility at night. But it is the National Champions banner that is first, and with a preseason ranking of No. 2 in both the Coaches poll and the AP, that is where the expectations start in Year Three of the Les Miles era.

"We're honored people ranked us like that," said quarterback Matt Flynn . "It is a good starting point, but this team has not played one down yet."

It has, however, survived the heat of preseason camp, and the Tigers have moved on to preparation for its Aug. 30 opener against Mississippi State . The scout team jerseys came out on Monday, players had moved out of their temporary camp housing and there was just one practice per day.

Despite the expectations, the pressures of having nowhere to go but down in the national championship picture and the fact that the Tigers must replace three first-round draft picks on offense (including No. 1 overall, JaMarcus Russell ), there was a looseness and levity to practice that gave the impression that this team has blocked out the hype -- at least for now.

"We don't dread practice," Flynn said. "We go out there and get the work done, but we have fun when we do it. That's what makes this team special."

Star defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey , LSU's best player, may enjoy himself more than anyone else on the field. "We have to be out there in the heat, doing every period and every rep, so you might as well have fun with it," he said. "This is my fourth year. You have to enjoy it because your career goes by fast."

Too fast for Dorsey , who would have been a first-round pick in April's NFL Draft but decided to come back to LSU for one more season. He calls it "unfinished business," and his eye is obviously on a national championship. Over the last two years, the Tigers have two 11-win seasons, two top-five finishes and two convincing bowl blowouts. With loads of talent on both sides of the ball and the toughest games on the slate at home, Dorsey 's goal is certainly attainable.

1. The defense has no holes. Defensive coordinator Bo Pelini looked at his defensive line following last year's 41-14 Sugar Bowl win over Notre Dame and thought he had plenty of talent coming back for the 2007 season. Then Dorsey decided the NFL could wait another season.