The College Football Offseason is underway and the majority of the fanbase is ready to press fast forward to Week Zero. In the days without College Football, everyone turns their attention toward next season especially after the 12 Team College Football Playoff gives everyone a chance to go on a Cinderella run like Arizona State or Boise State.
LSU is one of the team's with a ton of excitement for the 2025 season after the way the team attacked the offseason. The Tigers brought in a loaded transfer portal class paired with returning key pieces in Garrett Nussmeier and Harold Perkins Jr making this a roster that can make it into the College Football Playoff.
ESPN agrees with that sentiment in their College Football Playoff Projection making LSU the 10th seed but, the way the Playoff shakes out in their projection would be a disaster for Brian Kelly.
NEW: 2026 College Football Playoff Projection per @ESPN👀
— On3 (@On3sports) January 28, 2025
Thoughts? 🤔https://t.co/FwDXJXksLH pic.twitter.com/Umeim6jJzJ
This entire offseason Brian Kelly faced backlash for his comments about Notre Dame not having the right resources to win a National Championship. Along the way for all the praise Marcus Freeman got, Brian Kelly got just as much if not more criticism just to be right in the end but, not get any credit. Facing off against Notre Dame in South Bend would be a nightmare for Brian Kelly and if he lost that game he'd get it even worse.
There are some massive flaws with the ESPN projection however and the actual College Football Playoff field will look nothing like it. While Bill Belichick taking over North Carolina is an incredible story it will take more than one year to turn the team into a College Football Playoff contender. Utah doesn't have a clear answer at quarterback yet, they're projected to be the third ranked team and to upset Texas.