Paul Finebaum Names SEC Powerhouse Who Could Be Under 'Suffocating' Pressure

The LSU Tigers are hoping this is the season they return to national championship contention after experiencing a six-year College Football Playoff drought.

LSU Hopes to Return to College Football Playoff Contention

The Tigers last made the playoff in 2019, when Joe Burrow led one of the greatest teams of all time to a perfect record and the program's last national championship. LSU has had some good teams since then. The team won double-digit games in 2022 and 2023. The Tigers also won nine games in 2024.

All three of those seasons were under head coach Brian Kelly. He then led the Tigers to a 4-0 start and a No. 4 ranking last season. But the team would lose three of their next four games. That would mark the end of Kelly's tenure in Baton Rouge. LSU would finish the year 7-6.

The Tigers have since turned to former Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin. He went 55-19 in six seasons in Oxford. That included winning double-digit games in four of his final five seasons. That includes an 11-1 season last year, leading the Rebels to their first College Football Playoff appearance.

LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the press. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

LSU's Brutal September Schedule Leaves Little Room for Error

What might stand in the way of LSU making the College Football Playoff this season could be the month of September. The Tigers face the Clemson Tigers, Ole Miss Rebels and Texas A&M Aggies in the first four games. ESPN's Paul Finebaum revealed on "The Paul Finebaum Show" that if Kiffin were to lose two of those games, he would be under significant pressure the rest of the season.

"I think that two-week stretch is critical," Finebaum said. "If they lose to Ole Miss, and right now I think the trend lines would point that way, then what happens against (Texas) A&M? If they're sitting there with two losses... the pressure on them will be suffocating."

Two Early Losses Could Put Lane Kiffin Under Major Pressure

The margin for error is especially small because LSU is trying to make the CFP for the first time since the 2019 championship season. Kiffin was hired in large part because of his ability to turn Ole Miss into a consistent contender, and expectations in Baton Rouge will be just as high.

A 2-2 start would not necessarily eliminate LSU from playoff contention, but it would put enormous pressure on the Tigers to run the table for the rest of the schedule. Every additional loss would make the path increasingly difficult.

The good news for Kiffin is that he has already shown he can handle high expectations and build a program into a playoff contender. Now he has to do it at LSU, where patience can disappear quickly when championship expectations aren't met.

The September schedule won't determine Kiffin's entire LSU tenure, but it could establish the tone for his first season. If the Tigers survive the opening gauntlet, the playoff dream will remain very much alive. If they stumble twice, the pressure could become exactly what Finebaum described: suffocating.

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