LSU 2026 schedule: Dates set for Lane Kiffin’s debut season
By David Wasson
Published:
The Lane Kiffin era will begin at LSU on Sept. 5, 2026, when the Tigers take on Clemson as part of a 7-game home series at Tiger Stadium that includes SEC matchups against Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Alabama, and Texas.
LSU’s complete schedule, which was released Thursday following the 2026 SEC schedule reveal, contains the conference’s first-ever 9-game league format. The SEC announced in August it would begin playing 9 conference games for each school beginning in 2026, and that each program will continue to be required to schedule at least 1 opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12, or Notre Dame.
After the opener against ACC power Clemson and a Sept. 12 home matchup against Louisiana Tech, LSU hits the road for the first time on Sept. 19 for its SEC opener. That game will be none other than the hotly anticipated matchup against Ole Miss – Kiffin’s former team and one he spurned during the Rebels’ journey to the 2025 College Football Playoff.
LSU returns home Sept. 26 to play Texas A&M and then Oct. 3 against McNeese before heading back on the road for an SEC game against Kentucky on Oct. 10. Mississippi State heads to Baton Rouge to take on the Tigers on Oct. 17, and then LSU travels to play Auburn on Oct. 24.
Following a bye week, LSU has back-to-back home dates against Alabama on Nov. 7 and Texas on Nov. 14 before finishing the regular season on the road at Tennessee on Nov. 21 and at Arkansas on Nov. 28.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
