The college football offseason is almost over as we are halfway through July. The season will get going in about a month and a half, and college football fans everywhere are eager for the new beginning. College football fever is rampant across the country as we get closer to the season, but also because of the new EA Sports NCAA 25 video game that just came out last Monday. All in all, it’s an exciting time to be a college football fan, and one fan base that is excited for the season is LSU football fans. The Tigers have a big season ahead of them.
This college football season is going to be a big one for a number of reasons. The sport is going through big changes, and some of those changes are going to be seen for the first time this season. Let’s take a look at what some of them are.
First off, there are going to be some new rules seen this year in college football, and some fans aren’t really in favor of them. Perhaps the biggest change is the addition of the two-minute warning. Fans have already started getting sick at all of the commercials that are happening in today’s era of college football, and the two-minute warning is another way for tv networks to get more commercial times in.
The bigger changes, however, come with conference realignment and the expanded College Football Playoff. College football is going to look completely different next year because of those two things. California schools playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference? Yeah, things are changing.
Conference realignment has shaken things up big time in college football. The power five is no longer a thing as the Pac-12 is essentially dead. Every team left for a new conference except for Oregon State and Washington State. Those two teams have scheduling alliances with the Mountain West.
Every other Pac-12 school found a new home. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State are now in the Big 12. Oregon, Oregon State, USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten. Lastly, Cal and Stanford joined the ACC (makes a ton of sense, right?).
The other big change with conferences comes in the SEC. Oklahoma and Texas are both leaving the Big 12 and they will join the SEC. The Big Ten and the SEC are loaded with good teams and seem on the verge of forming two super conferences.
This season, we will also see 12 teams make the College Football Playoff. For about a month, the College Football Playoff will be happening. Some people aren’t in favor of the big expansion, but there will be more marquee college football games, and it’s hard to be too upset about that.
All in all, this is going to be one of the biggest college football seasons of all time. The game is changing, and this is the start of a new era.
LSU football is hoping to exceed expectations this season
Year one of the Brian Kelly era went surprisingly well as the Tigers ended up beating Alabama and they also made it all the way to the SEC title game. They were handily beaten by Georgia in that game, but making it that far was still something to celebrate.
After the success that LSU football found in that first season, the expectations for their 2023 season went through the roof. The Tigers were expected to be one of the best teams in the SEC and their goals were to win an SEC title and make the College Football Playoff. Those expectations seemed realistic, but they didn't meet them. Quarterback Jayden Daniels had a great year and won the Heisman, but there wasn't really much else to celebrate besides that.
Last season was still a solid one, but LSU football fans were expecting more than 9-3 when the season started. The Tigers were embarrassed in their season opener against Florida State, and they also lost to Alabama and Ole Miss. The good news for the Tigers is that they know exactly what they need to fix if they want to compete for championships this year: their defense.
LSU had one of the best offenses in college football last year as the best player in the country, Jayden Daniels, led the way. However, their defense couldn't stop anything and they gave up 45, 42 and 55 points in their three losses. It's hard to win football games when you're giving up that many points.
The Tigers knew what they needed to address this offseason, and if that defense gets better, they have a chance in the SEC. Here are three reasons why they can win the conference.
New defensive coordinator
Well, LSU football took the first step toward improving their defense, so that's a good start there. The Tigers brought in Blake Baker in the offseason, who was previously the defensive coordinator for Missouri, and Tigers fans are hoping that he can help turn this defense around. We won't really know if Baker can fix the mess that this LSU defense was until the season starts, but having a new guy in charge is important for this team.
Offense
Jayden Daniels has moved on to the NFL, but don't think that this LSU football offense is going to take a big step back. They have a lot of upperclassmen that will be starting, and Garrett Nussmeier might surprise some people at QB this year. Is he going to be as good as Daniels? Probably not, but the offense is going to be able to put up enough points for the Tigers to win games. If the defense can hold up their end of the bargain, this will be a very good football team.
Schedule
For how many top teams there are in the SEC, LSU football made out like a bandit with their schedule. Their three toughest conference games are probably home against Ole Miss, home against Alabama and home against Oklahoma. Don't start thinking about that Texas A&M game until the Aggies have played a few games, we've been fooled too many times.
That's a good schedule for LSU. Death Valley is one of the toughest places to play in college football, and Vegas has the Tigers favored against Alabama and Ole Miss right now. There isn't a line for the Oklahoma game, but if LSU is favored in those other two, they would be favored in that one as well. This schedule sets up nicely for the Tigers to at least make an appearance in the SEC title game.
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