Clemson #23
LSU #11
11:30 PM · Tiger Stadium (LA)

Clemson (#23) at LSU (#11) — LSU (#11) is favored by 10.

What’s at stake

Make the CFP field

LSU · 19%19% → ▲23% if win19% → ▼12% if loss
Clemson · 12%12% → ▲15% if win12% → ▼9% if loss

Win the conference

LSU · 2%2% → ▲2% if win2% → ▼2% if loss
Clemson · 8%8% → ▲8% if win8% → ▼7% if loss

Win it all

LSU · 1%1% → ▲1% if win1% → ▼0% if loss
Clemson · 0%0% → ▲0% if win0% → ▼0% if loss

CFP odds as of September 5, 2026

See this week’s biggest postseason implications ›

The series

LSU leads the series 4-1

5 meetings since 1958 · LSU has won the last 2

  • 2025LSU 17–10
  • 2019 · neutral siteLSU 42–25
  • 2012 · neutral siteClemson 25–24
  • 1996 · neutral siteLSU 10–7
  • 1958 · neutral siteLSU 7–0

Face-off

What each fanbase carries into this one.

Clemson

The chip · vs the national media

The coastal panels never believed a champion could be raised in the upstate pines; the fanbase says they wrote the obituary in 2011 and again every down year, and Clemson built two titles answering it. The doubt in 2025 just sounds like an old song played loud.

What this game touches

The 2025 unravel. A preseason No. 4 that Swinney said could go 16-0 finished 7-6 — Clemson's fewest wins since 2010 — as Cade Klubnik's Heisman buzz collapsed into a fourth-round NFL exit, and Clemson sent nine players to the 2026 draft while winning only seven games.

LSU

The chip · vs the national media

The take that LSU is a sleeping giant that keeps hiring wrong — all that talent, all that money, a revolving door of coaches. The fanbase made the boldest bet in the sport that Lane Kiffin is the answer to the joke.

What this game touches

The boom-bust — a title, then a teardown. LSU's championship seasons (the 15-0 2019 team especially) are followed by collapses and firings — Orgeron out two years after a title, Brian Kelly fired in October 2025 the day after a 49-25 home loss to Texas A&M. Greatness here is real but never sustained.

Best players

LSU

  • Davhon Keys (LB) · 2025: 89 tackles
  • West Weeks (LB) · 2025: 76 tackles
  • Tamarcus Cooley (S) · 2025: 70 tackles

Clemson

  • Sammy Brown (LB) · 2025: 107 tackles
  • T.J. Moore (WR) · 2025: 837 receiving yards
  • Ronan Hanafin (DB) · 2025: 64 tackles

The line, and the room

Clemson fans are feeling it more than most fanbases this week (31st percentile) — the mood matches the numbers.

  • Model · 41%
  • Market · 79%
  • LSU fans · 2nd
  • Clemson fans · 31st

Home −10 · O/U 50.5

Conditions

82°F · 4 mph wind · Rain Shower

Home-field advantage: Elite

LSU is 83% at home, 53% on the road since 2018 (45-9 home, 19-17 away).