Project four teams from the SEC to reach the playoff this season — the league champion and three at-large selections. That means there’s going to be a couple of squads who finish a game or two out of the playoff picture and get relegated to top-end bowl invites — like the Citrus and ReliaQuest — and will have a point to prove. The first of those squads could be LSU, the league’s “first team out” with the November showdown with Alabama potentially deciding the league’s fourth and final team in.
Like most SEC schedules, LSU plays five games against opponents ranked inside the preseason AP Top 25 — so there’s plenty of opportunity to impress the committee. There’s also a tricky conference game at South Carolina in Week 3 and a November trip to Florida, where third-year Gators coach Billy Napier could be coaching for his job down the stretch. This is a new-look team offensively for the Tigers, but this team’s overall worth will be determined by how well they play defensively after revamping the coaching staff following one of the program’s all-time worst showings last fall despite winning 10 games.