The LSU Tigers kick off their 2020 season in three weeks, and the bowl projections are beginning to creep around.
CBS Sports recently projected that the Tigers will face the Appalachian State Mountaineers of the Sun Belt Conference in the 2021 Outback Bowl.
The Tigers are slated to finish with 7-8 wins this season. App State would enter the match-up as an at-large bid.
With the Pac-12, Big Ten, Mountain West and MAC not playing fall football, that opens the door for other Group of Five teams to play high-caliber teams from the Power Five conferences that are playing in the fall.
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Throughout program history, LSU is 1-1 in the Outback Bowl, which started in 1986. The Tigers faced off against Syracuse, ultimately losing 23-10, in 1989 when the game was called the Hall of Fame Bowl. In 2014, LSU defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 21-14.
LSU has faced Appalachian State twice in program history. The first game was in Baton Rouge in 2005, which resulted in a 24-0 Tigers victory.
Three years later in 2008, LSU defeated the Mountaineers again in Baton Rouge 41-13.
Over the past two or three seasons, Appalachian State has become a perennial powerhouse in the Sun Belt and the Group of Five. While they have yet to face a Power Five team in a bowl game, this projected match-up against the Tigers would be monumental for their program.
Should the Tigers drop a game or two, a trip to the Outback Bowl isn’t out of the question. LSU, the No. 6 team in the AP preseason poll, opens its season on Sept. 26 against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Tiger Stadium.
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