Paul Finebaum Names Major SEC Program Facing a Brutal Early Schedule

ESPN announcer Paul Finebaum before the SEC Championship game. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Lane Kiffin-era gets off to one of the toughest stretches in college football this season.

Kiffin took over as head coach of the LSU Tigers after spending six seasons as the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. He went an incredible 55-19 and built the Rebels into one of the best programs in the SEC.

However, after leading them to an 11-1 season last year and the first College Football Playoff berth in program history, he elected to take on a new challenge in Baton Rouge.

Now, his challenge is to get the Tigers back to being one of the top programs in the SEC and to return to the College Football Playoff for the first time in 2019. However, his road to the CFP won't be easy.

September Sets the Tone

The Tigers are ranked with the No. 6 toughest schedule in the SEC, but it's the early portion of the schedule that is drawing all of the attention. LSU starts the season with a home game against the Clemson Tigers.

After that, the Tigers get a tune-up game against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, before Kiffin returns to Oxford to take on the Rebels and then faces the Texas A&M Aggies at home.

LSU Tigers' new head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at South Stadium Club. | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

ESPN's Paul Finebaum discussed the pressure on Kiffin on his show, "The Paul Finebaum Show," and he said a big part of that is this early portion of the schedule.

"I was talking to people earlier in terms of Kiffin, and obviously, the pressure is on Lane Kiffin," Finebaum said. "Really, the pressure is on this schedule right here... Even if LSU gets past Clemson, which they are a prohibitive favorite, can they escape Ole Miss and Texas A&M? If they can't, they are literally on the edge of the playoff at the end of September."

No Margin for Error

Finebaum is right that after that early-season stretch, the pressure could be very high on Kiffin. While he is in Year 1, and expectations are likely the lowest they will be in his tenure, he was tasked with turning this program into a contender. If the program were okay with winning nine or 10 games and not making the playoffs, they would have kept Brian Kelly.

The reality is what makes September decisive. It is not about avoiding losses; it is about establishing whether LSU can realistically operate as a playoff-caliber team in Kiffin's first season.

The Playoff Line Comes Early

If LSU doesn't go 3-1 or better during that stretch, its playoff hopes will be on life support with games against the Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas Longhorns and Tennessee Volunteers still looming.

So, the success of Kiffin's first year in Baton Rouge may effectively be decided before the calendar flips to October.