LSU WR Gregory Clayton Jr. dives for a pass while wearing a helmet equipped with air conditioning Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK

LSU entered the college football season ranked top-five in the AP poll for a myriad of reasons. Could one of those reasons be extra comfortable helmets?

The Tigers debuted their air-conditioned helmets on the field in their season-opener against the Florida State Seminoles on Sunday. The high-tech helmets were developed by Louisiana-based company Tigeraire.

According to LSU Country’s Zack Nagy, Tigeraire built the cooling mechanism in 2020 to help LSU players like Ja’Marr Chase and Derek Stingley during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The device, which snaps inside the helmet, was initially used to assist player breathing while complying with face mask requirements. But players took to the cooled helmets even at practice, where there weren’t any restrictions in place.

Now the entire LSU team will continue to sport the cooled helmets for every practice and game during the 2023 season.

LSU likely felt the benefits in their season-opener against Florida State, given that it was in the hot and humid Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

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