College football officially begins this month.
Now that it’s August, there are less than three weeks until Kansas State and Iowa State meet in Dublin to begin the 2025 regular season. And since the season is quickly approaching, we’re rolling out our preseason Top 25.
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Next up in our rankings is the No. 7 team, and the rest will be revealed in the coming days. (All odds are from BetMGM.)
Previously: Nos. 11 through 25, No. 10 Miami, No. 9 Alabama, No. 8 Notre Dame
No. 7 LSU
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National championship odds: 15-1
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Odds to make College Football Playoff: +130
2024 in 100 words
The Tigers lost another opener. LSU fell 27-20 to USC to start the season before reeling off six straight wins. That streak included a three-point victory at South Carolina and a three-point win over Ole Mis in overtime.
Any chances LSU had of making the playoff disappeared after that, however. The Tigers lost three straight games after climbing to No. 8 in the AP Top 25. LSU lost 38-23 at Texas A&M, 42-13 at home to Alabama and 27-16 at Florida before beating Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Baylor in the Texas Bowl to end the season.
LSU hasn’t won a Week 1 game since 2019. Will that change against Clemson this season? (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)
The quarterback
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The son of longtime college football coach Doug Nussmeier began his first full season as a starter on fire after taking over for 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. Nussmeier threw for 18 TD passes over LSU’s first six games. However, he threw just four TD passes over the next four games as LSU slumped away from the playoff race.
Nussmeier rebounded as LSU did at the end of the season and threw for seven TDs over the final three games while completing over 70% of his passes in that stretch. He finished the 2024 season completing 64% of his passes for 4,052 yards and 29 TDs to just 12 interceptions.
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Nussmeier said at SEC media days that he’d been watching film all offseason to figure out where he could be better in 2025.
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“For one, just having last year to be able to go back and now and watch, study. This entire offseason has been about that for me, just watching all parts of the game, seeing the areas where I need to be critical on myself and improve at, whether it’s taking care of the football or using my legs more in situations that I need to,” Nussmeier said.
“But it’s also been about seeing the things I did well also. Having confidence in that and confidence this is what I was able to do in Year 1. And now it’s just all I’ve got to do is raise the floor.”
With LSU’s offense adding even more skill position through the transfer portal, Nussmeier could be in line for an even bigger season. He’s currently the No. 2 favorite for the Heisman Trophy at BetMGM with odds of +900. Only Texas QB Arch Manning (+600) has lower odds.
Non-QB to watch
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How will LSU’s offense utilize the speedy Kentucky transfer? Brown played a key role in each of his three seasons in Lexington, though his receiving numbers declined every year. After catching 50 passes for 628 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman, Brown had just 29 grabs for 361 yards and three TDs in 2024.
Granted, Kentucky’s quarterback situation didn’t help matters. Brown will be playing with the best QB he’s ever had in Nussmeier. His receiving stats should end up being better than they’ve ever been before.
Brown could also be a real weapon in the return game for the Tigers. He has 50 career kick returns for 1,465 yards and five touchdowns. He and Zavion Thomas (24 returns for 633 yards in 2024) will be a fearsome duo for opposing teams to kick to.
Best position group
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This group could be the best receiving corps LSU has fielded since its 2019 team had the likes of Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Terrace Marshall.
Aaron Anderson returns after he had 61 catches for 884 yards and five scores a season ago. In addition to Brown, Nic Anderson also arrives in Baton Rouge via Oklahoma. He was hindered by injury all last season, but had 38 catches for 798 yards and 10 TDs as a redshirt freshman in 2023.
Chris Hilton played in just six games in 2024 but had nine catches for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas had only 218 receiving yards a year ago too, but had over 500 in 2023 at Mississippi State. It’s a very deep unit that should open up things for a run game that struggled at times in 2024.
LSU hasn’t won a Week 1 game since 2019. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
(Alex Slitz via Getty Images)
Biggest game
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It’s time for LSU to win a season opener. The team hasn’t won its first game of the season since that 2019 title season. In 2020, LSU lost to Mississippi State. In 2021, LSU lost at UCLA. The next two seasons included season-opening defeats to Florida State and then there was that loss to USC a year ago.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly knows the significance of being 1-0 for the first time in six years.
“We open up with a great program in Clemson. I know Dabo [Swinney] very well. Respect him and his program and the accomplishments they’ve had,” Kelly said. “We played against each other several times when I was at Notre Dame and just have a ton of respect.”
“But we’ve also been 0-3 in openers at LSU under my watch. We needed to do some things differently this year. That is embrace this opener. Embracing it in a manner that this is a big game. It’s a tangible goal for our football team to want to be 1-0. That’s not,’ let’s warm up into the season.’ We want to be ready for this football game. So we’re doing everything in our power to give our players the opportunity for that success.”
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Why LSU is No. 7
The season is not lost with a Week 1 defeat at Clemson. Thanks to a monstrous SEC schedule, LSU will have plenty of opportunity to be in the playoff race. The Tigers have games against Florida, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama and Oklahoma in 2025.
A win against Clemson will help the margin for error in that SEC gauntlet. Alabama missed out on the College Football Playoff a season ago with a 9-3 record. It only feels like a matter of time before a three-loss team gets into the playoff. But we’re certain that LSU doesn’t want to be the first team to test that theory.
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Along with what could be an explosive offense, the Tigers bring back three of their top five tacklers on defense and bolstered the unit via the transfer portal. Linebacker Harold Perkins should be fully healthy after an ACL injury cut short his 2024 season. He’s also moved to the Star linebacker spot under defensive coordinator Blake Baker. It’s yet another position change for Perkins after he had 13 sacks over his first two seasons with the Tigers.
If he gets the chance to rush the passer more often in 2025, he’ll have help from former Florida State edge rusher Patrick Payton. He’s tallied 16 sacks over the past three seasons. Defensive back A.J. Haulcy also arrives from Houston, where he had 74 tackles and five interceptions in 2024.
After five straight seasons with at least three losses, this is LSU’s best chance to compete for a national title since that iconic 2019 campaign. The schedule is a gauntlet, but this team should be well-equipped to navigate it.
