Thursday Thoughts: Everyone is too down on LSU, and Indiana’s schedule is a joke
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Week 4 is set to be one for the ages.
The No. 1 Texas Longhorns hit the road to take on the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers. No. 4 Ole Miss faces a tough road test at No. 21 Florida. The suddenly struggling No. 23 Texas A&M Aggies visit No. 10 LSU and, in a sneaky-good matchup, No. 19 Mizzou heads to Starkville to take on No. 24 Mississippi State.
And that’s just in the SEC.
Oregon-USC and Iowa-Michigan are also ranked matchups in the Big Ten. It’s going to be a great weekend of college football, y’all!
Let’s get into some of the biggest storylines I’m following as we approach Week 4:
1. Everyone is pressing the panic button too early on LSU
Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers went into a raucous (and furious) Vaught-Hemingway Stadium last weekend and left with a 32-24 loss. The Ole Miss Rebels and coach Pete Golding got revenge on their former head coach and stayed undefeated on the year.
But let’s not push the panic button on LSU too early, folks.
Yes, it’s alarming how careless Sam Leavitt has been with the football this year (3 touchdowns to 5 interceptions, with 5 sacks taken), but he also hasn’t lost a fumble and has shown flashes as a runner. Jordan Rodgers criticized Leavitt for playing “backyard football” this week, as if guys like Robert Griffin III, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Johnny Manziel, Kyler Murray, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and other QBs weren’t absolutely electric when they had to improvise when the play broke down.
Heck, Jameis Winston threw 10 interceptions the year he won the Heisman. Johnny Manziel threw 13 the year after he won the Heisman.
Leavitt absolutely needs to take care of the ball better, but it’s not going to be in LSU’s best interests to make him a pure pocket passer. Also, this defense is going to cover for a lot of his mistakes. The Tigers are elite on that side of the ball. Retaining DC Blake Baker was absolutely huge for Kiffin this offseason.
No SEC games are easy. Just look at resurgent Mississippi State and Kentucky programs so far this year. But realistically, LSU’s Playoff hopes probably come down to back-to-back home games against Alabama on Nov. 7 and Texas on Nov. 14. Split those and you’ll have a great shot the Playoff. Lose both and Selection Sunday will be stressful.
2. Ole Miss got an unexpected gift
The Rebels scored the aforementioned emotional and hard-fought victory over their former coach last week. Thus, a trip to The Swamp to face an undefeated and reinvigorated Florida squad under first-year head coach Jon Sumrall had all the makings of a potential trap game.
Then oddsmakers gave Pete Golding and company a gift.
The Gators are actually 3.5-point favorites over the Rebels, who are the No. 4 team in the country. Disrespectful much?
You’d better believe Golding is going to play that up all week, and he should. This line should be close, but it should favor the Rebels by 1.5 or 2 points, even on the road.
Even Sumrall had a great quip about the line, saying “There’s lot of good drugs out there, huh?”
Ole Miss should have plenty of motivation to avoid the trap game this week.
3. Allow me to also pile on Indiana’s schedule
If you’re going to bash the SEC and its scheduling practices the way Curt Cignetti and other Big Ten coaches and executives have, you’d probably be better off not having one of your best teams (and the reigning national champions, at that) start off with this garbage:
Seriously, what is that? It’s a bad joke, is what it is.
Indiana should feel embarrassed.
4. Don’t sleep on UCLA-Maryland this weekend
I mentioned the 6 ranked-on-ranked matchups in the intro, but there are some down-ballot games that are worthy of your attention this weekend, too.
Bob Chesney has inspired some hope in UCLA fans, getting the Bruins off to a 3-0 start. But this will be the first time they’ve left the state of California this year. Waiting for Nico Iamaleava and company is a Maryland squad with dynamic QB Malik Washington. The Terrapins are 2-1, but hosting a UCLA team that is making the cross-country trip gives them an advantage.
If UCLA manages to win this game on the road behind star RB Wayne Knight, it might be time to start taking the Bruins seriously.
Side note: Indiana plays neither of these teams in B1G play, because why would anything be difficult for the Hoosiers?
5. Ranking the 5 most disappointing teams so far in 2026
We’ll close the column today with a quick ranking of the 5 most disappointing teams so far in 2026. These teams have disappointed for a variety of reasons. Let’s dive in:
- Oregon — No-brainer here following the loss to Oklahoma State. The offense has been a mess since losing Will Stein to Kentucky. Honest question: If Dante Moore followed Stein to Lexington, would he be a Heisman favorite?
- Clemson — Clemson didn’t exactly have high expectations nationally going into this season (despite what Dabo Swinney may have said/thought), but the Tigers are so far from the powerhouse they were last decade that it’s just sad at this point.
- South Carolina — I think we might be seeing the last weeks of the Shane Beamer experience. If things get ugly in Tuscaloosa this weekend, it could accelerate his exit.
- Oklahoma — The Sooners somehow have more offensive issues this year than last year. That’s saying something. John Mateer needs to improve his decision-making or this will become a very long year in Norman.
- Washington — Washington is 3-0, so this might seem like an odd choice. But after a 16-14 struggle-win over Utah State a couple of weeks ago, I don’t think the Huskies are going to live up to their dark-horse Playoff billing. Don’t be surprised if this team has a losing record in Big Ten play.
You’ll notice I don’t have Texas A&M on this list. Not yet, anyway. I think Kentucky is just a much-improved team so far under Will Stein. The Wildcats are going to make life difficult for a lot of ranked teams this year.
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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.
