As an Alabama fan, this isn't a very popular opinion going into the season, but LSU is primed to make a deep run into the 2025 College Football Playoff. Brian Kelly was brought to Baton Rouge to make the Tigers a yearly contender, and honestly, since year one, have fallen a little short of expectations. He was able to beat Alabama as well as make the SEC Championship game, but the Tigers have fizzled out towards the end of the last two seasons. There are always high expectations on the bayou, but this year seems to be when they have everything in place to legitimately make a playoff run and possibly win the SEC as well.
The best thing going for the Tigers compared to other SEC contenders is that they have no questions at the QB position. Garrett Nussmeier in his second year as the starter is expected to be in contention to bring LSU their third Heisman trophy since 2019, and on top of that, with the talent on both sides of the ball, many think he can hoist a trophy in mid-January like Joe Burrow did. He had some hiccups in November with back-to-back bad games in College Station and then against Alabama at home. As long as he is consistently able to give similar performances to what we saw him have against Ole Miss or to close the season against OU or the bowl game against Baylor, this will be a very dangerous team.
Second year Defensive coordinator Blake Baker seems to have the needed personnel to make this team a true contender. Going into November last season, LSU controlled their own destiny in the SEC and the college football playoff, but not being able to stop a nosebleed against both Texas A&M and Alabama changed the outlook of the season rather quickly. Harold Perkins is back for another season and adding Jack Pyburn from Florida should be exactly what this defense needs. The defense will get tested from week one, but if they are even a little better than last year, the offense should get this team over the top most Saturdays.
The schedule if anything, could be the main reason why this team doesn't reach the lofty expectations with games against Clemson, Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama, and of course closing the season against what many expect to be a much improved OU team in Norman. The SEC schedule is never easy, but this schedule becomes that much tougher if both second year starters DJ Lagway at Florida and LaNorris Sellars at South Carolina, turn into the QBs many expect them to be. And of course that week one game on the road at Clemson will set the tone for the season. This is a team who hasn't won a week 1 game since 2019, and a win here would really set the tone for a team that has no margin of error in September based on the schedule.
I wouldn't say Brian Kelly's seat is super hot, but it has been 6 years since the last playoff appearance, and on paper, there isn't a reason why this team shouldn't be a very strong candidate as we get deep into the regular season. If this team doesn't make the playoffs, the only thing that would get Kelly's seat hot is if they aren't competitive in every game. They can't get outclassed by Alabama again, and have to be consistent week to week. The sky is the limit for this team, but the schedule does this team no favors. Two losses or fewer, and this team is locked for a playoff spot, and you would think they will have a good chance of playing in the SEC Championship Game as well. This is arguably the first time Brian Kelly has everything in place on both sides of the ball, and it will be fun to see if they live up to the potential.