As we make our way closer and closer to the 2026 college football season with each passing day, we here at Saturday Down South are going to fill some of the slow summer months with some predictions for what will happen on the field this fall.
What better way to do that than to predict the 12-team College Football Playoff field? Yes, the field is still 12 teams for now, so we’ll enjoy that perfect number for as long as it lasts.
Need a reminder about the College Football Playoff format this year? Here it is:
- Automatic bids for the ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 champions
- Notre Dame gets an auto-bid if it finishes in the top 12 of the final CFP rankings
- Top Group of 6 champion gets an auto-bid
- The 4 highest-ranked teams in the final CFP rankings get first-round byes, regardless of if they won their conference championships or not
And here’s a look back at the teams we’ve predicted will make the Playoff thus far during our series:
- No. 12 — Boise State
- No. 11 — Michigan
- No. 10 — Alabama
Now, let’s take a look at our No. 9 seed … LSU.
The Playoff Path
Yes, that’s right, Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers. I like LSU more than my colleague, Spenser Davis, who predicted the Tigers to finish with 8 or fewer wins in Year 1 of the Kiffin era.
I think that’s a bit low.
Kiffin and his offensive staff should be a major upgrade over the previous offensive coaches. Sam Leavitt, if healthy, should be better than the injured version of Garrett Nussmeier we saw in 2025. The offensive line was a weak spot last year and now Leavitt will be protected by Colorado transfer Jordan Seaton, who is a potential top-10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Defensively, the Tigers kept coordinator Blake Baker and should have a healthier version of Whit Weeks back at linebacker. Princewill Umanmielen was one of the highest-profile Ole Miss players to follow Kiffin to Baton Rouge. DJ Pickett is a budding superstar at corner and Ty Benefield was Boise State’s top tackler last year.
The defense should be just as good or better than the 2025 version, and the offense should take a huge step forward. Add that all together and you get a team that should win more than the 7 games it won last year.
The schedule is difficult, sure, but what SEC schedule isn’t? LSU gets Clemson in Baton Rouge this year, so that’s a game Kiffin and company need to win in Week 1.
The key early game, and perhaps the game of the season, will be Kiffin’s return to Oxford on Sept. 19 to kick off SEC play. That atmosphere will be intense and angry. Think Kiffin’s return to Tennessee (golf balls and mustard, anyone?) on steroids.
The Tigers get to host Texas A&M, Texas and Alabama this season. That’s great for them, as Death Valley is a tough place for opponents to win football games on fall Saturday nights. Road conference games at Ole Miss, at Kentucky, at Auburn, at Tennessee and at Arkansas should be fairly manageable.
I see a road to 9 wins here, and I think a 9-3 record with LSU’s potential strength of schedule will be enough to earn a spot in the 12-team field. A 10-2 mark is also well within the realm of possibility with the talent Kiffin has assembled.
The Possible Roadblock
It’s easy to say “health” for any team. But with LSU, that’s especially true. The Tigers need Sam Leavitt to stay healthy, which he did not do in 2025.
He suffered a foot injury and is still working his way back from it. But there’s good news on that front:
The revamped receiver room that includes Tre Wilson from Florida, Jayce Brown from Kansas State, Winston Watkins from Ole Miss and others needs a healthy Leavitt. His dual-threat ability should keep defenses honest and open up room for the receivers and the returning running back tandem of Harlem Berry and Caden Durham.
Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. turned a QB from Division II Ferris State, who started the year as a backup, into the No. 8 Heisman Trophy vote-getter. But expecting that kind of backup QB magic to strike twice is foolish. Leavitt needs to be the guy this season.
As he goes, so will LSU’s Playoff hopes.
Odds to Make the Playoff
The folks over at Kalshi currently give the Tigers a 44% chance to make the Playoff. The odds have been hovering between there and 50% for the most part.
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Here’s a look at the current market to make the Playoff:
We’ll be back on Thursday with team No. 8 in our projections… a Big Ten powerhouse.
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Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
