The Tigers missed out on the New Year’s Six by virtue of back-to-back losses to end the season, but their consolation prize isn’t too bad.
LSU will be heading to Orlando to face Purdue in the Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium — where the Tigers will also open the 2023 campaign against Florida State. The Boilermakers are coming into this one off of a conference title loss of their own against Michigan.
This is an interesting matchup on paper, though it’s fair to question how motivated LSU will be considering its eyes were on a potential playoff spot until just two weeks ago. With that in mind, CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli ranked it near the middle of the bowl game pack at No. 20 out of 41.
It’s a battle of two teams that exceeded expectations, but one of them won’t be as excited about it. Nobody was expecting too much of LSU in Brian Kelly’s first season, but the Tigers upset Alabama to help them win the SEC West. The problem is that a few weeks ago, the Tigers thought they had a shot to reach the College Football Playoff because of it but lost to a bad Texas A&M team 38-23. They followed it up with a 50-30 loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, and are now riding a two-game losing streak as they prepare to play the Citrus Bowl. Will their top guys sit this one out, or could we see a wave of opt-outs?
Purdue was a surprise winner of the Big Ten West this season, but it wasn’t the result of dominance. The Boilermakers went 6-3 in conference and hung with Michigan for a half in the Big Ten Championship Game before getting steamrolled in the second half. It’s a team that’s long made a habit of pulling off upsets over higher-ranked teams, and it has an exciting offense that can put points on the board, so LSU better take it seriously. However, there’s a potential problem here. The Louisville job came open this week when Scott Satterfield left for Cincinnati, and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm — a former Louisville QB — was seen as the top target for Louisville before it hired Satterfield. The Cardinals are bound to be interested again, so will Brohm turn down his alma mater twice?
As Fornelli notes, the wildcard in this discussion for the Boilermakers is the status of Brohm, who will likely be a primary candidate for the opening of his alma mater.
If, hypothetically, Brohm were to leave, it would likely take the wind out of the sails for a Purdue team that is no doubt looking forward to its first Citrus Bowl appearance since 2004.
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