SEC · Lane Kiffin, year 1 (2-1) · Tiger Stadium (LA) · 102,321 · 102,321 avg in 2026
LastL 24–32 at Ole Miss · Sat Sep 19 · Sam Leavitt 158 pass yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Nextvs Texas A&M · Sat Sep 26 · 7:30 pm ET · Tiger Stadium (LA) · LSU by 9 · series 36-24-3, lost the last 2 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 22 · through week 3
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 5 | #31 | #11 | -10✓ | ClemsonTop 25 win | W 51–10 142 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 12 | #27 | #88 | -34.5✗ | Louisiana Tech | W 45–14 140 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 19 | #24 | #13 | -3✗ | @Ole Miss | L 24–32 143 | 2-1 | 0-1 |
| 4 | Sep 26 | #20 | #9 | -9 | Texas A&M | |||
| 5 | Oct 3 | #20 | #193 | McNeese | ||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | @Kentucky | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | Mississippi State | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | @Auburn | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | Alabama | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 14 | Texas | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | @Tennessee | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | @Arkansas |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19 | @Ole Miss | L 24–32 | 330 | 1 | 30:15 | +0.232 | 45.7% | 111.3% | Defense's roughest night |
| Sep 12 | Louisiana Tech | W 45–14 | 528 | 4 | 34:09 | +0.020 | 46.0% | 125.0% | Season-low EPA/play |
| Sep 5 | Clemson | W 51–10 | 644 | 1 | 36:09 | +0.419 | 53.7% | 133.5% | Season-high EPA/play |
| Season average (3 games) | 501 | 2.0 | +0.224 | 48.5% | 123.3% | ||||
LSU has three national titles since 2003 and the loudest night in football — and just ate a $54M buyout to bet that Lane Kiffin is the wild card who finally ends the boom-bust.
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…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 7-6 · last season
✓ measured from 13 games · ranks are among SEC teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Cooling. 4-6 over the last 10, and lost the last one.
Very explosive, fast, you know you watch them. You know they missed a few of them last week, you know they’re really hard to deal with out of breaks, and they do a great job kind of taking off from where they got people open a year ago and were a problem for people as you guys saw, so we’re going to have our hands full
Next Sep 26
vs Texas A&M · at home
✓ fact on line · ~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-22
the open questionis the portal class enough to move the needle?
Brian Kelly's top-11 portal class arrives with 66% production returning and seven NFL exits — but the Tigers' nighttime thinking starts at QB.
our readfront page
Lamar Brown (ATH, #2 nationally) headlines LSU's eighth straight top-15 class — Brian Kelly's team returns 95% of QB production while navigating a rivalry with Alabama's top-2 haul.
our readfront page
LSU has slipped from elite-tier consistency for the first time since 2024 — Brian Kelly's fourth season demands whether talent ranking can offset the top-8% drop.
our readfront page
Lane Kiffin's first season at LSU arrives with a 7-6 record and a 1.0 win total jump, but the program's uneasy fanbase questions if the #8 talent rank can translate to sustained success.
our readdeveloping
Kiffin, who led Ole Miss to a 7-6 record, inherits a 21% production return and a program that hasn’t won a national title since 2019 — the night is still.
our readdeveloping
Lane Kiffin begins his first season at LSU with a 7-6 record and an uneasy fanbase, as the program reshapes itself under new leadership and a different vision for the night.
our readdeveloping
Kiffin inherits a 7-6 roster with 66% production returning and a #6 talent rank — the unease lingers, but the cupboard isn’t bare, and the program’s nocturnal ambition demands answers.
our readbackground
LSU has slipped from elite-tier consistency — the first time below the top-14% tier since 2024, and Brian Kelly’s fourth season raises the question of whether the program can sustain.
our readdeveloping
Lane Kiffin begins his first season at LSU with a 7-6 record and an uneasy fanbase, as coordinator changes reshape units under pressure to deliver results.
our readbackground
Harlem Berry: a closer signal screened this season.
our readbackground
Outcome band · LSU · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
LSU has slipped from dynasty-caliber territory — down to the top 15% of FBS by three-year power rating, from the top 9%. It is a 26-11 record over the last three regular seasons. The data and the coverage are now telling the same story. When both move the same direction, feedback loops tend to accelerate.
The 'resurgence is real' read: the numbers are starting to back the hype.
The 'wait and see' counter -- power shifts often get overread before the season proves them.
LSU signed the No. 1 transfer-portal class — 44 additions headlined by Sam Leavitt (QB) from Arizona State and Husan Longstreet (QB) from USC. It is the No. 1 portal class in the SEC this cycle. Signing-day rank doesn't survive a loaded depth chart. The skeptics are counting starter slots, not signees. The room is questioning depth-chart fit — not every signee gets the snaps.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The 'portal class fills the gaps' believers -- upgrades at real positions of need.
The 'portal is a gamble' counter -- departure losses and the 'plug-and-play doesn't work' read.
This event was in 306 of 12146 board posts (3%) over the last 60 days — engaged but not consumed. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
Board health this week (836 posts): 13% positive · 38% neutral · 49% negative. Team-level weekly mood — not specific to this event. The boards ≠ the fanbase: a self-selected vocal slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
LSU is the program that does its loudest thinking at night.
The program ledger
since 2025LSU DE served court papers
A DE getting served mid-season is the last thing a roster already down seven draftees needs — Kiffin's program can't afford the distraction tax right now.
Ole Miss sues LSU player for $550K
Ole Miss suing an LSU player for $550K mid-rivalry week is the kind of NIL litigation that makes the whole SEC look like a contract dispute waiting to happen — Kiffin's program built him up, Brian Kelly's program is now taking him to court.
Court injunction allows pros to play for LSU
Court said yes, LSU said no anyway — winning the injunction and then leaving Wright and Harris off the roster tells you exactly what Kiffin's program thinks about the precedent it wants to set.
EDGE Junior Tuihalamaka transfer commits from Notre Dame
EDGE room added three through the portal but CJ Jackson's departure left a starter-caliber void — Tuihalamaka arriving from Notre Dame is Kiffin plugging the hole that actually mattered, not just stacking bodies.
DL Zxavian Harris transfer commits from Ole Miss
Four departed, Mathis Jr. gone, and the DL room still had a hole — Harris crossing SEC lines from Ole Miss to Baton Rouge fills a starter-tier gap that Kiffin left behind.
QB Kaden Martin transfer commits from Middle Tennessee
C-USA to the SEC is a steep climb — but Kelly's QB room burned through six departures and still needed a live arm who's taken real snaps, not a redshirt project.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
LA leads the 2026 class with 10 commits. National footprint reaching 7 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
101 signees across 19 states, 2023-2026. LA leads the pull.
That is 16.9% of every high-school FBS signee LA produced over those cycles — the biggest share any program takes — Louisiana is next. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median LSU player grew up 382 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Tiger Stadium (LA). Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 107 of 113 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Fan confidence a bit lower than recent years
20th percentile among FBS programs
68 of 68 AP voters have them ranked, AP ballot, week 3 (2026) — from #1, Josh Furlong (KSL), to #13, Dave Preston (WTOP Radio).
Individual AP Top 25 ballots, AP ballot, week 3, 2026 — 68 voters tracked.
Cashing in more than most: 27% of disrupted passes intercepted, vs. ~19% league-wide.
3 interceptions of 11 disrupted passes (8 deflected, 3 intercepted), 2026 only.
The flags haven't favored them: 23 penalties committed vs. 18 drawn on opponents, 42 yards behind.
210 penalty yards committed vs. 168 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · LSU · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026