LSU heads into Lane Kiffin’s first season with the kind of buzz that only comes when expectations and investment collide. The roster has been loaded up, the talk in Baton Rouge is loud, and the Tigers are being treated like a team that belongs in the playoff picture.
But the path there is anything but clean.
LSU’s schedule brings plenty of heavy lifting, with Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama and Texas all on the slate. The Tigers also have to travel to Tennessee and open the year against Clemson, a Power Four opponent waiting on Saturday night. Clemson is unranked, but Dabo Swinney’s team still has the talent to make life difficult.
There are also real questions baked into this group. LSU is transfer-heavy, and that always comes with some uncertainty. A lot of the season’s outcome will ride on quarterback Sam Leavitt and a rebuilt offensive line.
With that backdrop, the final preseason bowl projections for LSU are starting to take shape.
The Athletic has LSU landing in the Las Vegas Bowl against USC, a result that would feel like a modest letdown for a team carrying this much ambition.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach sees it differently, projecting LSU into the College Football Playoff as the No. 10 seed before a first-round loss to Miami.
LSU Wire’s prediction lands in the same neighborhood. The projection there has LSU making the CFP, but not getting through the opening round.
The reasoning is simple: there are too many good players on the roster to leave them out, but not enough trust yet to expect a playoff win. Even so, the expectation is that Kiffin would still set a strong foundation in year one.
In Other News...
Nick Saban Just Sent LSU A Clemson Warning Fans Will Feel
Nick Sabans memories of LSU still carry a lesson he says every team eventually has to learn: the environment can help, but it cannot do the work for you. Looking back on his early years in Baton Rouge, Saban said his teams sometimes leaned too heavily on the energy inside Tiger Stadium instead of letting their own play set the tone, a reminder that arrived fast after an early-season loss in his first year.
He even put up a sign in the locker room to make the point clear, tying success to what happened on the field rather than what came from the stands. With LSU set for a matchup against Clemson, Saban made it clear he hopes the current Tigers dont fall into the same trap, especially in a game where the atmosphere will matter but execution will matter more. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Eligibility Fight Just Took A Turn Fans Cant Ignore
A Baton Rouge judges ruling this week gave former collegiate athletes a path to pursue a fifth season of college sports, and LSU is already moving to adjust to the legal reality. The preliminary injunction came in a lawsuit involving the NCAA and Southeastern Conference, and LSU President Wade Rousse acknowledged the decision, saying the university will follow the law while continuing to support its programs.
Lane Kiffin, Verge Ausberry and LSU now find themselves in the middle of a separate SEC lawsuit tied to the broader fight over the injunction, adding another layer to an already messy dispute. For LSU, the issue is no longer just about how one ruling affects eligibility, but how far the conference is willing to go in challenging the school and its people as the legal battle keeps unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Will Be Watching This Baton Rouge QB Family Showdown
The Louisiana high school season opens with a matchup LSU fans will want to keep an eye on, even if the Tigers are not on the field. Archbishop Rummel visiting University High School brings together two new quarterbacks making their first starts after offseason transfers, and both carry names that already mean something around Baton Rouge football circles.
Knox Kiffin, the three-star quarterback and son of LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, will be on one sideline, while Colton Nussmeier, a four-star Georgia commit and younger brother of NFL quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, will be on the other. For LSU followers, it is a familiar kind of early-season intrigue, with two local family storylines intersecting before the high school calendar even gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]