There are dozens of teams capable of having good college football seasons in 2026. There are probably 15 or so with a legitimate path to the College Football Playoff, and depending on how loose you want to get with the word “contender,” somewhere between six and 10 could talk themselves into believing a national championship is actually possible.
But there are four teams I keep coming back to: Texas, Texas A&M, Indiana and LSU.
These aren’t necessarily the four best teams in college football, though some or all of them could eventually fit that description depending on how the season unfolds. No, they’re the four squads I believe will have the largest impact on how we experience this season. Texas enters another year with a loaded roster and national championship expectations after failing to reach the playoff in 2025. Texas A&M finally broke through under Mike Elko and now has to prove it wasn’t a one-year excursion toward greatness. Indiana, meanwhile, is attempting to figure out what life looks like after improbably going 16-0 and climbing to the top of the college football mountain.
And then there’s LSU.
The Tigers stumbled through a disappointing 2025 season under Brian Kelly, only to respond by cutting a massive check to get rid of him and then following that up by making one of the wildest coaching hires in recent memory, prying Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss in the middle of the Rebels’ run to the College Football Playoff. LSU then handed him seemingly every resource imaginable to overhaul the roster, spending heavily in the transfer portal and assembling a team expected to contend immediately.
And because this is LSU, even that apparently wasn’t enough drama. Kiffin’s first game arrives with the Tigers embroiled in the bizarre saga surrounding former professional players returning to college football, adding another layer of noise to an offseason already overflowing with it. The hire, the money, the expectations, the endless controversies — all of it feels so quintessentially LSU that I needed an external opinion on what exactly we’re dealing with here.
So I turned to my friend Zion Trammell, a writer for LSU On SI, to help make sense of Kiffin’s arrival, this completely reconstructed roster and just how good — or how chaotic — the Tigers could be in 2026.
Let’s start with the obvious one: What the heck is LSU going to look like under Lane Kiffin?
Zion: LSU is going to look very different this season. The Tigers spent a lot of money in the transfer portal and completely overhauled the roster, giving Kiffin a team that looks almost nothing like the one that came before it.
Kiffin wasn’t given a grace period, either. LSU expects to win now, and I think the Tigers have the team to win plenty of games right away.
Seth: There are two answers to this question, one centered around the actual football on the field and another focused on all the drama off it. We’ve already seen what life is like in the latter, as the Tigers are embroiled in a controversy of their own making, recruiting players who signed professional contracts in the NFL but won a fifth year of eligibility because, well, the NCAA screwed the pooch again. All anyone can seemingly talk about in the lead-up to Kiffin’s inaugural game against Clemson on Saturday is this whole eligibility saga, and the actual football has been pushed to the side. Expect a lot of that throughout Kiffin’s time in Baton Rouge.
On the field, though, this program — as Zion alluded to above — has the potential to be an absolute gauntlet. If Kiffin keeps up the same level of production he had at Ole Miss, but with LSU’s resources, I can’t even imagine the ceiling. But I just can’t shake the feeling that Kiffin’s extracurriculars will get in the way of everything, just as they have everywhere he’s been.
How much confidence do you have in Sam Leavitt being the quarterback LSU needs him to be?
Zion: There’s plenty of confidence in Leavitt to lead this new-look team. When he’s healthy, his dual-threat ability makes him a fun quarterback to watch and gives Kiffin plenty to work with offensively.
I think it’ll take some time for him to adjust to the tougher defenses he’ll see in the SEC, but I think he’s the right guy to lead the Tigers.
Seth: I’m one of the supreme Sam Leavitt believers. There was a moment midway through Arizona State’s 2024 campaign when it dawned on me that this quarterback was really special. Injuries have hampered his rise just a bit, but people shouldn’t forget how magical he was throughout the Sun Devils’ march to a Big 12 championship.
Just like with Kiffin, imagine what he can do with this stable of weapons at his disposal. He was already dynamite in Kenny Dillingham’s offense. Kiffin’s system opens up a whole other world of possibilities.
LSU basically rebuilt its roster overnight. What position group makes you feel best about that experiment, and which one makes you nervous?
Zion: They have a brand-new wide receiver room. Kiffin brought in seven wideouts, highlighted by Jayce Brown, Jackson Harris and Winston Watkins Jr., and I’m a big fan of that group. There are a lot of different options for Kiffin and Leavitt to work with.
The defensive tackle position worries me more. There’s talent there, but it’s a young and inexperienced group that will have to prove itself against SEC offensive lines.
Seth: LSU has historically never had a problem when it comes to the wide receiver position — Odell Beckham Jr., Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Malik Nabers … the list goes on and on — and, if Zion is right here, it shouldn’t be a problem again. I’m particularly intrigued by Jayce Brown, who was one of the lone bright spots of Kansas State’s 2025 campaign and should bring another level of explosiveness to an offense that already has plenty of it.
How long is Lane Kiffin’s honeymoon period at LSU?
Zion: I think LSU fans will love Kiffin until proven otherwise. He’s the guy they’ve been waiting for, and he’s a massive upgrade over Brian Kelly.
Obviously, expectations are going to be high from the beginning, but I think there’s a lot of excitement about what he can build in Baton Rouge.
Seth: One year. If the Tigers enter 2027 and Kiffin stumbles out of the gate, I expect to hear a lot of backtracking from the same folks who paraded this hire as the coup of the century. I don’t know, it just feels like there’s some hubris on the horizon for a ton of people down in Louisiana.
Perhaps that’s just me being cynical and jaded toward the whole LSU experience at this point, but it’s hard to be thrilled about all the noise.
Give me the scenario where this goes completely off the rails.
Zion: I could see a scenario where the Tigers lose back-to-back games against Ole Miss and Texas A&M. If that happens, the concerns will heighten quickly and this operation could start to implode.
It’s unlikely, but it’s certainly not impossible.
Seth: A loss to Ole Miss would be otherworldly in terms of bad vibes. Kiffin talked the talk, and he’ll have to walk the walk in Oxford. I cannot wait for that game.
The real disaster scenario, at least in my opinion, hinges on how well this team survives all the outside pressure. With all the drama and all the noise, LSU has to keep its head on its shoulders and focus on the task at hand. Any distraction could veer the ship off course, and it’s up to Kiffin and this roster to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Conversely, what does Lane Kiffin actually have to accomplish in Year 1 for this season to be considered a success?
Zion: If LSU wins 10 games and is at least in the top 15, I would consider that a successful season. A lot of people think the Tigers have to make the College Football Playoff right away, but that’s a tall task in Year 1.
They can absolutely do it, but as long as they’re in the conversation, I think that’s fine. Regardless, I don’t think it’ll take long for Kiffin to build a winner in Baton Rouge.
Seth: I’d go as far as to say that if LSU doesn’t achieve what Zion said would constitute a successful season, then it would be a failure. So, so much money was spent on this roster — and this coaching staff — that results are expected right away. Nobody in Baton Rouge signed up for a multiyear rebuild.
Which player, other than the quarterback, excites you the most on LSU’s roster?
Zion: I’m a massive Trey’Dez Green fan. He should flourish in this offense and has a chance to become one of the premier tight ends in the sport.
Also, remember the name Ty Benefield. The former Boise State safety is highly regarded by the coaching staff, and I think he could have a massive season.
Seth: I, too, adore Trey’Dez Green. There’s no tight end in the country who possesses the combination of raw talent and ability that he has, which is what makes the pursuit of Dae’Quan Wright, the former Browns tight end who was waived during the preseason, so confusing.
Perhaps there’s room for both, and Kiffin obviously knows Wright well from their time together at Ole Miss. But Green is already sitting there as one of the most tantalizing weapons in college football. I’d be feeding that dude the ball every chance I got.
Give me one LSU prediction that you believe right now but would probably be embarrassed to have read back to you in January.
Zion: I don’t necessarily believe this will happen, but if you told me LSU runs the table and wins the SEC, I wouldn’t be surprised.
This roster has enough talent, and Kiffin is good enough offensively, that the ceiling is incredibly high if everything comes together.
Seth: I struggle to see LSU peaking in the first year under Kiffin, though I presume it’s not an impossibility. There’s always a chance that something magical happens, especially with this much talent and one of the best offensive coaches in the country pulling the strings.
I just think there are too many new pieces, too much noise and too difficult a schedule for everything to come together immediately. Then again, if LSU is sitting in Atlanta playing for the SEC championship in December, nobody should pretend the possibility wasn’t staring us in the face all along.
