As is tradition, after the clock reached zero in Monday night's College Football Playoff National Championship Game marking the end of the College Football Season, the way-too-early top-25 projections for the 2025 season began rolling out.
The moment football season ends we all want to get back into the swing of football season but, the offseason gets into the way. After the 12 Team College Football Playoff everyone who missed the Playoff is dying to get back into the mix to contend for the College Football Playoff. The Transfer Portal and Early National Signing Day have only built up everyone's hopes for 2025.
Stewart Mandel of the Athletic released his Way to Early Top 25 for the 2025 season with LSU as the 4th best team in the Country.
Spent most of last week researching for the early Top 25.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 21, 2025
There are no super teams. Everyone’s got holes. And there was no obvious No. 1. https://t.co/wSeSvaMtKo
The LSU Tigers were only ranked behind Penn State, Texas, and Notre Dame with Ohio State shockingly outside of the Top 5.
The path for LSU to a College Football Playoff Berth will be anything but easy, as LSU opens the season at 5th ranked Clemson while also facing 11th ranked Florida, 14th ranked Alabama, 16th ranked South Carolina, 17th Ranked Texas A&M, and 25th ranked Oklahoma.
The LSU offense is projected to be among the best in the Country with Garrett Nussmeier returning for a second season. The Tigers have a hoard of weapons for Nussmeier in Caden Durham, Aaron Anderson, Nic Anderson, Chris Hilton Jr, Barion Brown, Zavion Thomas, Kyle Parker, Trey'Dez Green, Bauer Sharp, and Harlem Berry.
The Tigers defense will be led by the man in the middle potential Butkus Award nominee Whit Weeks. Surrounding Weeks the Tigers loaded up on pass rushers and defensive backs to rebuild the defense while they got Harold Perkins Jr back for one more season.
The 2025 season is incredibly important for Brian Kelly as he enters his fourth season as LSU's Head Coach. This roster will be Brian Kelly's most talented group yet, and with all of LSU's additions missing the 12 Team College Football Playoff would be a massive failure.