LSU’s stumble in Kentucky sent the Tigers crashing to No. 22 in Sunday’s Associated Press top 25, the lowest spot of any Southeastern Conference team in the poll after a 35-34 overtime loss to A.P.-unranked Kentucky on the road Saturday night.
For LSU (4-2, 1-2 SEC), the drop from No. 10 came after a game that unraveled in a few damaging ways at once: quarterback Sam Leavitt’s critical fumble, seven penalties for 50 yards, a defense that broke down at key moments and a special teams unit that gave up a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown.
LSU now sits in a difficult place with the rest of its schedule still ahead, and the Tigers are in danger of missing the College Football Playoff for the seventh straight season despite bringing in Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss after last season and away from Florida and Florida State. Next up is No. 16 Mississippi State (4-1, 2-1 SEC), which visits Baton Rouge on Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN after being idle this past weekend.
Kentucky’s win changed its own standing, too. The Wildcats (5-1, 3-1 SEC), who were unranked before Saturday, landed at No. 15 in the A.P. poll and climbed from No. 25 to No. 17 in the USA Today coaches’ poll.
LSU’s path from here is crowded with ranked opponents. After Mississippi State, the Tigers still have three more ranked teams left on the schedule among their final six games: No.
6 Alabama (5-1, 3-1 SEC) comes to Baton Rouge on Nov. 7, No.
7 Texas (4-1, 1-1 SEC) follows on Nov. 14, and No. 14 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) is next on the road Nov.
The top of the poll shifted after Saturday’s results, starting with Georgia’s 20-17 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Georgia (6-0, 4-0 SEC) moved from No. 2 to No. 1, while Notre Dame (6-0) checked in at No.
- Miami (5-0) is No.
3, Ohio State (5-1) No. 4, Indiana (6-0) No.
5, Alabama No. 6, Texas No.
7, BYU (5-0) No. 8, Ole Miss (4-1, 2-1 SEC) No. 9 and Texas Tech (5-0) No.
Just behind that group, the second 10 includes Utah, UCLA, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Iowa, Oklahoma State, USC and Houston.
At the bottom of the rankings, Wake Forest is No. 21, LSU No.
22, Boise State No. 23, SMU No. 24 and Northwestern No.
- Oklahoma also made a major move after knocking off Texas 27-24; the Sooners (3-2, 1-1 SEC) handed Texas its first-ever loss to a No. 1 team.
In Other News...
Kentuckys LSU Celebration Just Came With A Brutal Price
Kentuckys overtime win over LSU ended with a dramatic two-point conversion and an even bigger scene afterward, as thousands of Wildcats students rushed the field to celebrate the 35-34 victory. For LSU, it was the kind of painful road loss that already stings on its own, but the aftermath added another layer of frustration to a game that slipped away in the final moments.
The SEC moved quickly to address the field storming, citing the conferences policy against spectator access to competition areas before, during and after contests for safety reasons. Kentucky was fined $500,000, and the leagues updated penalty structure means LSU will be the beneficiary of the payment, turning a memorable finish in Lexington into a costly one for the home side. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Is Benefiting From Kentucky's Costly Postgame Mistake
LSUs narrow overtime loss at Kentucky came with an unexpected silver lining a day later, when the Southeastern Conference confirmed the Wildcats will owe the Tigers a $500,000 fine after fans stormed the field following the win. The payment stems from a new 2025 SEC rule tied to violations of the access to competition area policy, and it is one that puts real money back in the hands of the opposing team in conference games.
For LSU, the result on the field still stings after Kentucky escaped with a 35-34 victory, but the postgame fallout has now added another layer to the story. The SECs ruling makes clear that the celebration came at a cost, and the Tigers are the beneficiary of a rule designed to punish field-storming incidents more directly than before. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin's Rare Late Decision Still Haunts LSU's Kentucky Loss
Lane Kiffins decision to punt on a critical fourth-and-1 late against Kentucky stood out immediately because it ran against the reputation he has built for aggressive, high-wire coaching. LSU was up 27-24 with less than two minutes left and Kentucky had no timeouts, a situation that usually invites a team to put the game in its own hands rather than hand the ball back.
Instead, the punt opened the door for Kentucky to mount the kind of closing sequence LSU wanted to avoid. The Wildcats forced the game to overtime with a field goal, then finished it by going for two and sealing the win, leaving LSU to replay a rare late-game choice that will linger because of how the final minutes unfolded. [Read more 🡒]