Expectations are high in Baton Rouge as the LSU Tigers look to get back in the College Football Playoff.
With head coach Brian Kelly in his fourth season at the helm, things should certainly be clicking by now, leaving many analysts optimistic about the Tigers’ chances.
Why Paul Finebaum Is Optimistic About LSU
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum expressed his optimism about LSU on the “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” radio program, but he does have one big question.
“I can and I will. The only issue I have, and it’s a familiar one, it’s the schedule,” Finebaum said. “I mean how can you have a more difficult game than going to Clemson on the opening day? That’s a bigger task even than Texas has, because I don’t think Ohio State is quite what they were a year ago. They’re still a really good team.”
But LSU’s schedule will be an uphill climb, with matchups against Florida and at Ole Miss also part of the Tigers’ first month of the season. Finebaum thinks the tone will be set with how they play against Clemson.
“But going into that environment, you probably know what time the game starts. I don’t. It is going to be very tricky, and I think that Brian Kelly just has to be prepared in the event they lose that game just to hold on because the schedule is fairly difficult in September,” Finebaum said.
After September, the Tigers take trips to Alabama, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, but Finebaum thinks the road is manageable.
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“Assuming they can get out of September, I think LSU is really in great shape,” Finebaum said. “I know they have to go to Tuscaloosa late in the year, but I don’t see a lot of losses on that schedule for them. And I think because of the Clemson game, here we go again, we did this with Georgia last year… LSU is one of those should they lose three games I think still is a CFP team.”
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