LSU has a loaded SEC schedule in the first year of the league’s expansion to 16 teams, but the tough contests will start before conference play begins.
The Tigers open the season against USC in Las Vegas on Labor Day Sunday in what could be a fascinating matchup between teams that had struggling defenses in 2023 and lost a lot of pieces from prolific offenses.
Joel Klatt recently broke down 10 games that could define the college football season, and he thinks that the Week 1 contest could have significant downstream effects.
“I think USC and LSU are pretty similarly positioned within their conferences,” Klatt said. “Which is, a bit of an unknown. We believe in their coaches, they’ve got great track record and history. We believe in their locations… And yet, we still don’t know in this new iteration of these conferences, where are they going to be at?”
Klatt said that with a win over the Trojans, LSU would likely be 5-0 when Ole Miss comes to town for a crucial conference matchup. He thinks a win in the opener could springboard the Tigers to compete for an at-large College Football Playoff bid.
Both these teams have significant questions, but we’ll have a lot fewer about whichever one emerges from the desert victorious in Week 1.
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