Ken Ruinard / staff, The Greenville News via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Paul Finebaum Names SEC Team That Will End Its College Football Playoff Drought

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jaron Spor | Last updated Jun 23, 2025 10:00 AM ET

The 2024 college football season saw six teams qualify for the playoff for the first time in their program history. Several teams, including the Clemson Tigers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, also ended their College Football Playoff droughts.

However, it was a different case for the LSU Tigers. The Tigers last made the playoff in 2019 when they won the national championship. Since then, LSU has struggled, winning five and six games in the succeeding two seasons. Following this decline, the university fired head coach Ed Orgeron and hired Brian Kelly.

While Kelly has introduced changes to the program, he has not yet led the Tigers back to the top. In his three seasons as head coach, LSU has won 29 games, but the team hopes this year will be different and that they can finally make the playoffs again.

On "The Paul Finebaum Show," the SEC Network analyst shared his thoughts on whether he believes the Tigers will return to the playoffs for the first time in more than five seasons.

"I really like LSU's chances," Finebaum said. "I think they're excellent. I was alluding to the schedule a little bit ago. I think it's just a matter of survival, the first month of the season, Ole Miss, Florida and Clemson. A bad start would put a little bit of heat on (Garrett) Nussmeier and the rest of the team. I think getting out of that month with only one loss would be fantastic."

LSU has several advantages as it prepares for the upcoming season, with 62% of its total production returning, which ranks 38th in the nation. Among the returning players is Nussmeier, who had a standout first year as a starter, stepping in for Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. Last season, he threw for 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Despite Finebaum's optimism, ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) does not completely share his confidence, ranking LSU as the No. 12 team in college football heading into the season. The FPI gives the Tigers the 13th-best odds of making the College Football Playoff at 30.3%, placing them just outside the playoff picture.

Finebaum mentioned that the Tigers have a challenging schedule; however, Kyle Wood from Athlon Sports disagrees. He ranks LSU as having the sixth-easiest schedule in the SEC. Wood points out that although LSU starts with a difficult non-conference game against the Clemson Tigers, the rest of their non-conference schedule features teams that are not part of the Power 5 conferences.

In SEC play, LSU will host the Florida Gators, South Carolina Gamecocks and Texas A&M Aggies, while facing road games against the Ole Miss Rebels, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Oklahoma Sooners.

The Tigers will aim to make a strong statement in their season opener against Clemson on August 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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