LSU’s season has been messy, but the door to the playoff is still cracked open.
At 6-3, the Tigers have taken their share of hits, and Saturday’s loss to Alabama only pushed them further toward the lower end of the range of preseason expectations. That’s the reality of a team with one of the sport’s sharpest offensive minds on the sideline and one of its most talented rosters on the field: the results still have to match the talent.
Even so, the path ahead is clear. LSU’s final three games offer a chance to rebuild the résumé in a hurry, and two of those opponents are sitting in the Week 11 AP poll.
The Tigers host No. 8 Texas in Week 12 before heading to No.
9 Tennessee. If LSU wins all three, it can patch the holes that are still showing in its case.
That’s the straightforward version. The harder part is the committee.
LSU is carrying three losses, but the context matters. Two came against top-10 teams, Ole Miss and Alabama. The third was that overtime loss to Kentucky, which looks a lot better now with the Wildcats having climbed as high as No. 6 in the first CFP poll last week.
That’s why a 9-3 LSU with wins over what should be top-10 Texas and Tennessee would be a difficult team to leave out. If the selection committee keeps that version of LSU out because the résumé isn’t strong enough, it would also be saying it overranked Alabama and Kentucky - teams with similar résumés in that first CFP ranking - from the start.
The committee does not judge teams on record alone. It leans heavily on strength of schedule, strength of record and quality wins, especially when a team has been through the SEC grinder. That matters for LSU, because the Tigers have spent the season facing a brutal slate of ranked opponents rather than padding the record against softer competition.
That’s also why a three-loss team from this league can still have a real argument.
The SEC is the toughest conference in the country from top to bottom. Its ceiling is usually higher than everyone else’s, and its floor is higher too. LSU’s losses came to Ole Miss, Alabama and Kentucky, and all three were the kind of defeats that can survive a committee conversation because of where those teams sat at the time.
The other side of the ledger is less flattering. LSU’s biggest wins - Clemson, Texas A&M and Auburn - have lost enough since then to make those victories look less imposing than they did when they happened.
Still, the Tigers are not done. Not yet.
In Other News...
LSU Just Added A Louisiana Linebacker Worth Watching Closely
LSU kept a Louisiana linebacker in the fold with the addition of JaMarquis Hudson, who flipped his commitment from Kansas to the Tigers. The move brings him back closer to home after he built his high school profile in Texas, and it also gives LSU another defender with real ties to the state and a clear connection to the programs staff.
Hudson said family ties to Louisiana and his relationships with LSU coaches played a major role in the change, and he has already developed a strong rapport with linebackers coach Chris Kiffin. He also knows there is work ahead, planning to add weight so he can better fit LSUs defensive scheme, which makes his development one of the more interesting things to watch as this commitment settles in. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Alabama Grades Exposed One Bright Spot And One Big Concern
Pro Football Focus postgame grades offered a quick snapshot of where LSU held up and where it slipped in the loss to Alabama, and the numbers pointed to one clear offensive bright spot. Wide receiver Jackson Harris came out with the Tigers top offensive grade at 80.7, a sign that he was one of the few LSU players who consistently made his presence felt in a tough matchup.
The bigger concern showed up inside, where center Braelin Moore posted the lowest offensive mark at 49.3. On the other side of the ball, cornerback DJ Pickett led LSU with a 76.3 grade, and the defensive chart did not feature any glaringly poor performances, which leaves the focus on an offense that still has some sorting out to do. [Read more 🡒]
Will Wade Sent LSU A Warning After That Blowout
A big win over Texas Southern did not leave Will Wade sounding particularly satisfied, and that says plenty about where LSU is right now. Even after the Tigers handled business, Wade pointed to offensive inefficiencies and turnovers as the kind of slippage that can get exposed once the schedule stiffens, especially with Louisiana Tech and Gonzaga coming up next.
Donovan Dent said the message from the coach was all about staying locked in and not letting a lopsided result blur the bigger picture. For LSU, the concern is less about the final score from one night and more about whether the Tigers can clean up the details fast enough to be ready when the competition gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]