Can LSU Football Handle All of the Hype Surrounding Them In 2026?

On almost every national college football talk show, podcast or website, you'll find someone talking about Lane Kiffin and his first season at LSU. It's been that way since December, when he was first hired.

Every aspect of LSU's offseason has been talked about, from the way the hiring went down to the top recruiting class he signed while just being on the job for one week and the top transfer portal class he signed later on.

The opinions, claims and overall thoughts on every aspect of the offseason range. But there's pressure not only in the national scene, but also in a more local ideology about LSU this season.

All of this hype can get to teams, but LSU is capable of blocking out any preseason rankings, hype or expectations and focusing on the work that no fan or analyst sees.

A Desire For Hope

Tigers Head Coach Brian Kelly, LSU Tigers take on the Texas A&M Aggies. October 25, 2025; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; at Tiger Stadium. Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

LSU fans who have been loyal across the last four seasons have learned one thing: the preseason hype and expectations mean nothing.

It's a harsh statement, a hard truth to accept and an overall sad sentiment to hold about the school they support. Especially when the teams are compared to past iterations of LSU football squads.

That was LSU fans' issue with the Brian Kelly era. It was empty promises, and overall, a completely different program than the one they knew before the 2022 season.

For LSU football in 2026, there is a lot of hype and comparisons made to past teams.

But LSU fans believe this era is different. And it will be.

It'll be different because LSU is all about culture. It has always been LSU's greatest recruiting pitch: the stadium, the loyal fans and the identity of a team that fights.

But Kiffin understands that, and that's something that Kelly missed during his time here.

The Hype

Dec 1, 2025; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU president Wade Rousse, left, LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin and LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry stand together at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This offseason, the national scene has covered LSU extensively. With that has come some questions, but it's also garnered a lot of hype.

Paul Finebaum has led that hype train all offseason.

Finebaum has gone on national television and said that Kiffin dominated the end of last season with his coaching move, then the playoff chaos, then a strong transfer portal haul, and he argued that LSU is a playoff team despite the roster turnover. He went further on a separate show later, saying Kiffin is not far off the top of the SEC coaching hierarchy and is "probably on the next rung" behind Georgia's Kirby Smart.

But this season's hype is there, a strong roster and proven scheme can work almost anywhere. But Finebaum predicted Kiffin would be "the ultimate winner... in spite of all the criticisms."

And that is Kiffin's pitch to LSU fans. He's said before that this may take time. He'd like it to be in Year 1, but he's asked LSU fans for a touch of patience, promising the diehard Tiger fans a championship during his reign.

"I don't know how fast it's going to happen, but we're going to win a national championship," Kiffin said on Tyrann Mathieu's podcast that came out in June.

But most importantly, he noted that LSU will be recognizable as the program it once was again.

"We're going to have the team and the roster back to the way they were playing when they were great," Kiffin added on the podcast.

But focusing back on 2026, LSU does have real hype around being a contender in the first season of this new era. And that's becuase of the roster.

LSU pulled in the nation's No. 1 transfer portal class, headlined by quarterback Sam Leavitt, tackle Jordan Seaton and edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen, all are the top players available at their positions in the portal.

This immensely talented and deep roster has put LSU tied with Texas for the most Preseason All-SEC selections in the conference, with four.

All of these factors add up to how LSU places in the preseason rankings. As of right now, LSU is in the top 25 in nearly every way-too-early top 25 ranking for 2026.

Is It All Too Much To Handle?

There's pressure for sure. That's what this level of attention causes in collegiate football programs.

But for LSU, it won't be too much.

That's because just in the limited amount of time this team has had to practice and put everything together so far showed that the program as a whole has taken the steps it needed to take toward putting a complete team on the field when the season comes.

The spring practice window proved that repetition and time will gel this roster into a team. And hype cannot take that away from LSU this fall.

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