Top 25 in 25: LSU Football Season Preview

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We’re counting down the final 25 days before the college football season by previewing every one of our preseason top 25 teams! With 12 days left until week zero, we continue our previews with my No. 12 team in the country – the LSU Tigers.

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Projected Record: 8-4 (5-3)

Ceiling/Floor: 10-2/5-7

Projected Wins: Louisiana Tech, Florida, SE Louisiana, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Western Kentucky

Projected Losses: Clemson, Ole Miss, Alabama, Oklahoma

Most Intriguing Game: Florida (Week 3)

LSU has yet to make a New Year's Six bowl game in the three seasons since Brian Kelly took over as head coach, but 2025 may be the year Kelly gets over the hump. The Tigers might have the best – or at least safest quarterback situation in the conference heading into this year with Garrett Nussmeier returning to run the offense, and also brought in the No. 1 portal class in the country this offseason. Though all four of its losses were not great last year, LSU should have an improved team in 2025.

With Nussmeier back, the passing game should be a strength of this offense once again, but if the Tigers are going to contend for a playoff spot, the rushing game has to improve from last season. Kelly’s squad finished 44th in yards-per-rush in 2024 despite opposing defenses playing more for the pass. A revamped offensive line should help that cause though, at least on paper.

Defensively, the Tigers have to find more consistency as well from a season ago. The unit finished 39th in the SNAP Model, and there was nothing they really excelled at. However, there was nothing they were terrible with either, so the positive was that offenses couldn’t pick out weaknesses to attack. The Tigers should take a step forward from last year though too under second-year defensive coordinator Blake Baker, and having preseason All-American linebacker Whit Wheeks patrolling the heart will help. I’m a big fan of Houston transfer AJ Haulcy at safety as well.

Theoretically, LSU should be an SEC and playoff contender this fall, but with a tough schedule (as most SEC schedules are) and a big crop of transfers, we won’t know for sure until they take the field for the first time in a huge matchup against Clemson in week one. But if the Tigers fail to contend for a playoff spot for the fourth straight season under Kelly, his seat may start to heat up.

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