LSU has certainly been a well-traveled program in recent years.
The Tigers have opened the last three seasons with non-conference games away from home and will begin their 2024 campaign in Las Vegas against USC. However, there’s one frontier LSU hasn’t explored: the international game.
They’re rare in college — though they used to be less so — but they’ve happened several times in recent memory. Sydney held a Week 0 season-opener in 2016 and 2017 while opening week matchups have also been sporadically held in Ireland — including in each of the past two seasons and again in 2024.
LSU has never participated, but it’s apparently on Brian Kelly’s radar. At SEC Media Days on Monday, Kelly said he would like to see the team play internationally, particularly on the Emerald Isle, citing the relatively easy travel.
. @LSUfootball Brian Kelly feels the next step for the #LSU brand is international – a trip to play in Ireland. Kelly says the travel is clean and relatively easy. “I’m a huge proponent. I’ve been pushing our administration.”
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) July 15, 2024
While it’s far from unprecedented in college football, playing internationally is not something the SEC does very often. Seemingly the last time an SEC team played abroad was in 1937 when Auburn tied Villanova in Havana, Cuba.
Kelly also previously coached a game in Ireland, leading Notre Dame to a 50-10 win over Navy in 2012.
It’s not quite clear how LSU would benefit from such a game, especially if it came at the expense of a home game in Baton Rouge. But it’s something Kelly is clearly lobbying the administration for, so it’s worth keeping in the back of your mind as future schedules are finalized.
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