Well, soccer season is officially over in America. Now we can turn our attention to football season once again. We continue our countdown to kickoff with another new offseason series: predicting the record for each team in the SEC with a game by game look at their schedule.
Up first, the LSU Tigers.
Strength of Schedule: 6th in the SEC
I’ve seen some Big J journalists talk themselves (and others) into the idea that this is somehow the easiest schedule in the conference. There’s no chance that playing Clemson, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, and Texas would ever be considered “easy.” A road game to Tennessee on the heels of a back-to-back against Texas and Alabama is also a nightmare given Lane Kiffin’s history there. What makes the LSU schedule so difficult is that all of the meat of the schedule is in the same vicinity of each other. They get Ole Miss and Texas A&M back-to-back. They get Alabama and Texas back-to-back. Granted, they do play most of those games at home, but the schedule is still far from a cakewalk.
It’s the sixth hardest schedule in the SEC as we illustrated in our previous article on the toughest schedules in the SEC.
Biggest game of the year: Texas
Everyone keeps pointing to the Ole Miss game, and I fully understand why. The biggest game of the year for LSU however is in mid-November when Texas comes to town. Both teams should still be in playoff contention when that game rolls around. It will feature the two best offensive minds in college football and should be one of the most evenly matched games of the year. Not to mention it might be the best uniform matchup of the season as well.
The preseason No. 1 quarterback in the SEC, Arch Manning versus the No. 1 overall player from the transfer portal, Sam Leavitt. Elite playmakers at pass catching positions in Cam Coleman for Texas and Trey’Dez Green for LSU. There should be plenty of offensive fireworks and creativity in playcalling while also seeing what could be the two most improved defenses in the conference as well. The winner should become an immediate statistical favorite to make the 12 team playoff as long as no late season stumbles occur after.
It will be a massive game in Death Valley.
Trap Game: Auburn
It’s a sleepy start time at 11:00 am cst on the road in a hostile environment. It’s also the final game before their bye week, so LSU could be tired after eight consecutive games. The good news for them is that they should be heavy favorites in the three games leading up to it against McNeese, Kentucky, and Mississippi State. Still, a trip to Jordan-Hare is rarely a cakewalk for any opposing team. Auburn should be much improved this year and Alex Golesh and Byrum Brown have shown before they can take SEC teams down to the wire as an underdog. Just look at what they did at South Florida against Alabama in two straight seasons. LSU should be favored by at least a touchdown in this one, but there are a lot of wildcards in play here that can make this a very dangerous game if they’re not careful.
Not a must win, but a can’t lose game of the year: Clemson
The opening game shouldn’t dictate whether or not your preseason goals are dashed, but for LSU fans there would be no bigger deflating game than losing to Clemson out of the gates. Losses to Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama or Texas would suck, but they’d at least be understandable. Losing to Clemson in game one of the season after breaking a streak last season of losing five straight openers would be incredibly disheartening. It would be a crushing blow to the confidence people have put in Lane Kiffin to get this thing turned around.
It won’t happen. But, more importantly, it really can’t happen.
Toughest Stretch
The three game stretch of Alabama, Texas, and at Tennessee is about as brutal as it gets for any team in the SEC this season. Luckily, LSU gets two of those games at home to start the stretch. But, Texas should be one of the best teams in the country this season, and Alabama has only lost in Tiger Stadium six times in the last 68 years. The toughest test could be the grand finale when they travel to Knoxville to play in what could be an even more hostile environment than what Oxford will be in Week 3. They need to win two of those games to feel safe about getting in the playoff.
Ceiling and Floor: 11-1 and 7-5
This team will play much closer to the ceiling than their floor. The ceiling is 11-1 in an absolute best case scenario. The schedule is really tough but you get four of your biggest five games at home. The floor is trickier because you could talk me into losing to the following teams in this order: Texas, Texas A&M, Alabama, and potentially Ole Miss and Tennessee. That would be the worst case scenario for Lane Kiffin in year one.
Season Prediction: 10-2
Clemson – W 31-13
Louisiana Tech – W 55-10
at Ole Miss – W 34-24
Texas A&M – W 27-24
McNeese – W 63-3
at Kentucky – W 38-24
Mississippi State – W 41-21
at Auburn – W 28-20
Alabama – W 28-21
Texas – L 31-27
at Tennessee – L 27-23
at Arkansas – W 45-14
