This week · as of Wed Nov 4

6-2, won 2 straight, on track for 9-3 in the regular season.

Now

Career arc

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerFBS medianTennesseeUSCFlorida AtlanticOle MissLSUNotre DameNotre DameMississippi StateMississippi StateDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelTennessee when he took over: 54.9 (Power Program I), its final 2008 readingTennessee, 2009: 7-6, Power Program IITennessee, 2009: 7-6, Power Program II2009-1.1USC when he took over: 84.0 (Blue Blood), its final 2009 readingUSC, 2010: 8-5, Blue BloodUSC, 2010: 8-5, Blue Blood2010USC, 2011: 10-2, Blue BloodUSC, 2012: 7-6, Blue BloodUSC, 2013: 3-2, Blue BloodUSC, 2013: 3-2, Blue Blood2013-10.0Florida Atlantic when he took over: 10.8 (Regional Program IV), its final 2016 readingFlorida Atlantic, 2017: 11-3, Regional Program IIIFlorida Atlantic, 2017: 11-3, Regional Program III2017Florida Atlantic, 2018: 5-7, Regional Program IIIFlorida Atlantic, 2019: 10-3, Regional Program IFlorida Atlantic, 2019: 10-3, Regional Program I2019+13.4Ole Miss when he took over: 40.9 (National Program I), its final 2019 readingOle Miss, 2020: 5-5, National Program IOle Miss, 2020: 5-5, National Program I2020Ole Miss, 2021: 10-3, Power Program IIIOle Miss, 2022: 8-5, Power Program IIIOle Miss, 2023: 11-2, Power Program IIIOle Miss, 2024: 10-3, Power Program IIOle Miss, 2025: 11-1, Power Program IIOle Miss, 2025: 11-1, Power Program II2025+9.4LSU when he took over: 62.8 (Blue Blood), its final 2025 readingLSU, 2026: 6-2, Blue BloodLSU, 2026: 6-2, Blue Blood2026-0.9best: 2010gray dashed: rival programs · ○ the program when he took over · Dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Bowls and playoffs: 4-4

Tennessee2009Chick-fil-A BowlL 14-37USC2012Sun BowlL 7-21Florida Atlantic2017Boca Raton BowlW 50-3Ole Miss2020Outback BowlW 26-202021Sugar BowlL 7-212022Texas BowlL 25-422023Peach BowlW 38-252024Gator BowlW 52-20

This week Wed Nov 4

  • Last gameW 38-17 at Auburn Sat Oct 24
  • This season6-2 won 2 straight
  • On track for9-3 regular season
  • Nextvs. Alabama Sat Nov 7
  • Stature10th of 138 FBS programs

What the result changed

  • AP poll #18 → #15 up three
  • Playoff odds 39% → 43% CFB Zeitgeist forecast, before and after

Saturday: vs. Alabama

Sat Nov 7, 3:30 pm ET ABC · No. 9 Alabama is 6-2 · First meeting between Kiffin and Kalen DeBoer as head coaches · LSU’s chance to win: 57% (the site’s model)

His week

Most talented team we've played”

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin offers thoughts on Alabama, QB Keelon Russell

247Sports headline · Thu Oct 29
They look like the old Alabama teams”

LSU coach Lane Kiffin on Week 10 matchup

On3 headline · Wed Oct 28

Dozens of stories this week →

The headlines, Oct 25–Nov 4 from dozens of outlets

On the podcasts

Fans are feeling good about LSU

I think LSU is maybe one of the most likely eventual champions, but they are so low bc they don’t have a great win yet. Seems pretty clear to me this year the rationale is a great win is almost as much a positive as a loss is negative, and I honestly don’t hate it if they just get a bit more consistent with it bc there’s still all kinds of silly reasoning.

Tyler from Shreveport La, Geaux Tigahs!!! LSU!!! I want to go to the SEC championship game with y'all!!

No rat poison here. Thanks to the cfp for the billboard material.

Fan mood · last 3 weeks · more upbeat than 3 in 4 FBS fan bases

Offense: 19th of 138 per play. Defense: 2nd.

Offense, per play19thOffense, staying on schedule2ndDefense, per play2ndPass defense2ndWorstBest
Offense, per play19th of 138Offense, staying on schedule2nd of 138Defense, per play2nd of 138Pass defense2nd of 138WorstBest
Through 8 games. Each tick is an FBS team, adjusted for opponent strength (CFB Zeitgeist model); the dot is LSU. The other two rows are where LSU stands furthest from the middle. Early-season numbers move a lot.

4 games left

  1. Sat Nov 7vs. Alabama (6-2)ABC57%
  2. Sat Nov 14vs. Texas (6-2)ABC67%
  3. Sat Nov 21at Tennessee (6-2)67%
  4. Sat Nov 28at Arkansas (3-5)97%

Percent: LSU’s chance to win, from the site’s model. Records are through today. Networks as announced; the rest are set closer to kickoff.

How the season got here

LSU has held at 10th of 138 FBS programs by stature after every game this season.

  1. Oct 26–Nov 1No game77 headlines · 3rd of 138Lane Kiffin calls conspiracy on SEC for LSU-Alabama. Here's why USA Today“Most talented team we've played”LSU head coach Lane Kiffin offers thoughts on Alabama, QB Keelon Russell, Oct 29
  2. Oct 19–25W 38-17 at Auburn48 headlines · 4th of 138Lane Kiffin's son Knox throws, runs and catches TDs in breakout game USA Today
  3. Oct 12–18W 31-0 vs. Mississippi State74 headlines · 1st of 138Kamario Taylor injury presents LSU, Lane Kiffin a layup they can't afford to miss in CFP chase CBS Sports
  4. Oct 5–11L 34-35 at Kentucky42 headlines · 3rd of 138Lane Kiffin joins hot yoga class in Lexington before LSU-Kentucky football game Yahoo Sports
  5. Sep 28–Oct 4W 63-14 vs. McNeese41 headlines · 10th of 138Florida missed on Lane Kiffin. Why Jon Sumrall is changing the narrative in Gainesville The New York Times
  6. Sep 21–27 · rebuiltW 35-6 vs. Texas A&M86 headlines · 2nd of 138One week after heartbreak, Lane Kiffin’s LSU is back on track, and Texas A&M is in crisis The New York Times“It Looked Really Bad”Lane Kiffin on Whit Weeks Injury for LSU, Sep 26

Each week as this page showed it at the time. Weeks marked rebuilt came before this page existed: they were built afterward from only what was known by the end of that week.

Watch the biggest plays from LSU’s games, ranked by how much each moved the chance to win.

Poach watch

This winter

3%chance he leaves this winter for a head-coaching job elsewhere, or an NFL coordinator jobSettled58th-highest of 132 FBS head coaches
0%50%+

Our poach model, on his record so far, the win chances for every game he has left, his program, his pay and his background. Ranked against the 132 FBS head coaches this season. The zone words describe the market’s interest; none of them says he is leaving.

What drives his number

The biggest factors in his profile, each against the typical FBS head coach today. The games he has left are priced into the number, not listed here.

  • ▲ Higher
    Age 51 · neither at his alma mater nor in the state he was born in, a former NFL head coach
  • ▼ Lower
    His first season at LSU
  • ▲ Higher
    No record for him here before this season · his first year in the job
How good is this number? It ranks a head coach who leaves for another head-coaching job ahead of one who stays 78 to 82% of the time, and its average came within a point of the share who actually left. What it can’t do

Tested on every FBS head coach from 2012 through 2025, each season scored by a model fit only on the seasons before it. From three games on, given one coach who left for a head-coaching job elsewhere or an NFL coordinator job and one who stayed, it ranked the one who left ahead 79 to 82% of the time; in a season’s first two games, 78%. Its average chance came within a point of the share who actually left. It counts a move a coach makes while he still holds the job; when his school ends it, that doesn’t count, even if another school then hires him.

  • The live number prices the games he has left with the power model’s ratings from this season. The test priced them with each team’s rating from the season before, because ratings made during past seasons were not kept, so this live version could not be replayed.
  • Programs new to FBS have no FBS record before this season in the data it reads, so their coaches are scored without one.
  • It is frozen: it learns nothing from 2026 until a deliberate refit.
  • A coach hired in December needs his background (age, alma mater, the state he was born in) added before his first game, or he shows as not rated.