Paul Finebaum's Take: Are the LSU Tigers a College Football Playoff Team in 2025?

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers will enter a pivotal 2025 season this upcoming fall with all eyes on the program in Baton Rouge.

The Bayou Bengals hit the NCAA Transfer Portal with force during the offseason with the program bringing in the No. 1 class in college football.

Headlined by Nic Anderson [Oklahoma], Barion Brown [Kentucky], Jack Pyburn [Florida], Patrick Payton [Florida State] and A.J. Haulcy [Houston], it's a new-look roster for the coaching staff.

LSU will have 18 newcomers via the Transfer Portal on the 2025 roster once summer workouts begin after adding 16 transfers during the winter window and two during the spring window.

The program will have a unique blend of returning talent and fresh faces in Baton Rouge, but all focus will be on the program taking that next step to reach the College Football Playoff.

It'll be LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier at the helm of the offense as he returns for his second season as the starting signal-caller for the purple and gold.

He will look to develop across the next few months after piecing together a 2024 campaign where he totaled 3,738 yards, 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 12 games played.

"This offseason, he's been able to be a little bit different because now he's going back and when he's studying, he's not just studying his practice tape or maybe our tape and what could happen. He's looking at specifically some stuff that he needs to improve on," LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan said during Spring Camp.

"He's been really intentional. I think really some of our staff did a great job of breaking some different things down for him so he could really see some individual things and he could take back control of those situations.

Nussmeier is a proven leader. The players on LSU's roster gravitate towards him and want him to propel the program to a College Football Playoff appearance.

Now, SEC Network's Paul Finebaum has chimed in on if he believes LSU has what it takes to take that next step.

"Right now, I would have to think of LSU as a playoff team," Finebaum said. "It's crowded. In the SEC, you essentially have Texas, I believe you have Alabama, Georgia, LSU and who is next?"

In 2024, six teams made their first appearance in the College Football Playoff, and for LSU, they will be looking to snap a significant skid since the last time the program was featured.

Kelly and the LSU Tigers will open the 2025 season on the road against the Clemson Tigers in what will be a highly anticipated Week 1 showdown.

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