SEC Championship Predictions: LSU Football Out, Texas Longhorns and Ole Miss In

No. 13 LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC) will navigate an open date in Week 6 with all focus on the Tigers' Oct. 11 matchup against LaNorris Sellers and the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Following a loss to the Ole Miss Rebels last Saturday, the Bayou Bengals remain in headlines after a sluggish performance in the program's first road SEC matchup of the season.

LSU's offense has been a challenge across the first five games of the season with the struggles becoming a significant storyline surrounding the program.

“Disappointed in the loss, certainly,” Kelly said on Saturday. “There is a game within the game. You start with the first half, where our inability to sustain anything on the offensive side of the ball put our defense on the field for 50 plays.

“At the end of the day, when you put it all together for four quarters, we didn’t play complementary football, which you have to do in this league. You have to be able to complement your offense and defense. When our offense started to move the ball, our defense couldn’t get the stop.”

With a lack of complementary football, national analysts have been pulling the LSU Tigers out of the SEC Championship Game predictions along with College Football Playoff picks.

This week, Fox Sports' Joel Klatt locked in a prediction on the two programs he sees in the SEC Championship Game.

Joel Klatt's Pick: Texas and Ole Miss In - LSU Out

“This is wide open, man,” Klatt said. “Like, this was very difficult, and I think that you could put a lot of different combinations in this championship game.”

“Again, this could be anybody. This could be one of six or seven different matchups,” Klatt added later. “I think this league is very balanced at the top, is how I’ll say it. I don’t think there’s a great team in the SEC. I do think that it’s balanced at the top.”

Klatt has locked in the Texas Longhorns as his first pick in the SEC Championship Game despite a slow start with Arch Manning under center.

LSU Tigers Football: Barion Brown. — Courtesy of LSU Tigers Football.

“I think that Texas is going to right the ship,” said Klatt. “I think this weekend is going to have a lot to do with that. They’re on the road at Florida, in what looks to be a very precarious game – and I know that sounds crazy because of Florida’s struggles so far this year, but more on that a little bit later in the program.”

Klatt has the LSU Tigers out of the mix while inserting the Ole Miss Rebels as his second team in the SEC Championship Game.

“And then another team that, you look up and their schedule is just built in order to succeed this year? Their SEC schedule is not as difficult as other SEC schedules, and you look at the win that they had last weekend over LSU? It’s Ole Miss,” said Klatt.

Now, entering the first weekend of October, Klatt has locked in the Texas Longhorns and Ole Miss Rebels as the schools piquing his interest.

“I think Texas and Ole Miss have really good chances to go to the SEC Championship Game,” said Klatt.

“This would be my guess right now, Ole Miss-Texas, and I think Texas would win that game as the SEC Champ,” Klatt said. “They still have an elite defense, folks, and that’s going to mean something in these types of games.

"And I think Arch will continue to get better as the season goes along. So I’m still going to hitch that wagon to Texas.”

More LSU News:

Five-Star LSU Football Target, No. 1 Tight End in America Visiting SEC Rival

LSU Football Eyeing Flip Targets Committed to Ohio State, Arkansas and Texas A&M

LSU Football Cornerback, Five-Star Freshman Receives Rave Review From Brian Kelly

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU Tigers.