By Hunt Palmer
When evaluating a team on paper or the practice field, the part that doesn’t show up is the schedule. And it’s every bit as important.
Indiana wasn’t loaded last year. The Hoosiers just avoided Oregon, Penn State and Illinois. Ohio State pasted the Hoosiers, and the rest of their Big Ten schedule included the bottom of the league. LSU is never going to be gift-wrapped a slate like that in the SEC, but some league schedules are tougher than others. To the same point, not all non-conference schedules are created equally. LSU has made life harder on itself than necessary.
LSU’s roster is packed with experienced talent and led by a prolific quarterback. Most analysts would suggest that the Tigers are good enough to make a playoff push. What’s in the way?
The schedule, potentially.
Let’s rank the 12 games in order of difficulty beginning with the toughest tests and working to the more manageable opponents.
1. at Clemson
Considering the environment, opposing roster and quarterback situation, LSU’s opener is the toughest game on the schedule. I know that Louisville and South Carolina won at Clemson last season. Still, a 70-5 record in that building packs a punch for Dabo Swinney’s program. So does a returning quarterback with a first-round grade and a defensive front that could give LSU’s perceived weakness a rude introduction to the 2025 season.
2. at Alabama
Kalen DeBoer’s opening season was a disaster by Alabama standards. The Tide lost to Vanderbilt for the first time in 40 years and dropped games to Oklahoma and Michigan who combined to complete about 11 passes on the season last year. Still, the roster is full of future pros like Ryan Williams, Kadyn Proctor, Tim Keenan and Domani Jackson. Last season, the game was a playoff eliminator. The same could be true this year. At the very least one team will have serious playoff aspirations. Bryant-Denny should be packed.
3. at Oklahoma
I can see this game going one of two ways. One, both teams arrive with a pair of losses and are playing for a birth in the playoff. Two, things have spiraled in Norman, and an interim head coach has the headset. Keep in mind, Oklahoma finished last season 19th in America in total defense and only allowed 21.9 points per game. Considering the Sooners were the worst offense in the conference, that’s solid work. Now quarterback John Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle are being imported from Washington State to fix the disastrous offense. If they do, Oklahoma will be tough two days after Thanksgiving.
4. Texas A&M
The Aggie identity for 2025 looks a lot like the second half against LSU in College Station last year–run the ball a ton and play defense. Four offensive line starters, tailback Le’Veon Moss and quarterback Marcel Reed should form a formidable rushing attack. Mike Elko’s defense returns the entire secondary and two linebackers including Taurean York in his third year as a starter. A&M hasn’t won in Tiger Stadium as an SEC member. They’ll be looking to change that this season.
5. South Carolina
South Carolina was a damn good team last year. That LSU game could have easily gone the other way, and LaNorris Sellers missed a wide-open receiver on a two-point play to send the Alabama game into overtime. Ole Miss was the only team that got after the Gamecocks in 2024. Sellers returns as the most dynamic SEC quarterback. He’s got to throw the ball a little bit better, and the defense which was so good a year ago has to replace the entire front seven except superstar rusher Dylan Stewart. South Carolina hasn’t earned the assumption that restocking the shelves will be easy, but Sellers can put a team on his back.
6. at Ole Miss
I struggled with where to put this one. The game is on the road, and Lane Kiffin generally produces offense no matter his personnel. But the entire roster is gone. Two starters are back on offense, and two starters are back on defense. They hit the portal hard again, but the returns don’t appear to be star-studded. Austin Simmons is a huge talent at quarterback, but Tre Harris is gone. So are four offensive linemen. That Rebel defense was stout last year. Losing five draft picks stings. This won’t be a picnic for LSU, but it feels like a Rebel roster that has taken a step back.
7. Florida
This is a massive game for both programs. Florida will be 2-0 after beating Long Island and South Florida. LSU will either be riding high off a win over Clemson (and Louisiana Tech) or in a dark place after a sixth straight season-opening loss. Either way, LSU will have to have it. DJ Lagway was very good on one leg against LSU last year, and the Tigers created a way to lose a game in Gainesville last year where they held the ball for 40 minutes and ran 92 plays to the Gators’ 43. The Florida offense should be solid with Lagway, four offensive line starters, running back Jadan Baugh and versatile wide out Eugene Wilson III all back. This figures to be Billy Napier’s best team at Florida. But will it be his last?
8. at Vanderbilt
I can’t take anything away from Vanderbilt’s 2024 season. The Commodores beat Alabama, played Texas to a three-point game, beat Virginia Tech and Auburn and won a bowl game. That’s as good as you can perform at Vanderbilt. What I can do is suggest there are only three league teams I’d rather play than Vanderbilt in 2024—Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi State. It’s a talent thing. Vanderbilt doesn’t have much. Diego Pavia is everyone’s favorite gamer. He’s got an elite tight end in Eli Stowers. Clark Lea is doing a great job, but this will be a 60-40 Vandy-LSU crowd split and a wide talent gap. It should look like last year’s game where LSU won comfortably.
9. Arkansas
Bobby Petrino managed to produced the No. 10 total offense in the country last year in Fayetteville. Taylen Green is a great athlete. He’ll have to do it this year without Andrew Armstrong who accounted for 30 percent of the Arkansas catches and yards. The top nine pass catchers are gone, so it’ll be another transfer haul for Green to learn. The defense only returns three starters. This is as manageable a game as is on LSU’s SEC slate.
10. Western Kentucky
The Hilltoppers can generally chuck it around. They snagged former Abilene Christian quarterback Maverick McIvor. He threw for 3,800 yards last year. Six defenders return off a team that was 7-2 last year before a bumpy finish.
11. Louisiana Tech
The Bulldogs were solid on defensively last year, best in Conference USA in total defense. They couldn’t score. They scored 10 in a loss to FIU, three at Sam Houston and beat Western Kentucky with 12. Sunny Cumbie is 11-26 in Ruston. Vibes aren’t great there.
12. Southeastern Louisiana
The FCS-FBS matchups are just not a fair fight. Southeastern will come in for a paycheck. Mine isn’t big enough to even research the team that the Lions will field in Hammond this year.
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