Can the LSU Tigers make the College Football Playoff with two losses?

Saturday’s college football slate had massive implications for the playoffs. Georgia throttled No. 1 Tennessee in Athens; LSU stunned No. 6 Alabama in Baton Rouge, and Notre Dame knocked off No. 4 Clemson in South Bend. There will be seismic shifts in the committee’s rankings on Tuesday, but is there a path for Brian Kelly‘s Tigers to make the College Football Playoffs with two losses?

Unfortunately for TCU, it looks like they’ll be left out of the top four this week. The Bulldogs will be the No. 1 team in the country after dominating the Volunteers, who, by the committee’s actions, were the best team in the country by far, including in most strength of record metrics. Ohio State may have stumbled at times, but they’ll squarely be the No. 2 team in the country.

Michigan likely moves up to No. 3 as Tennessee and TCU battle it out for the final spot in the CFP rankings. The Volunteers already have the respect of the committee, given their opening week ranking. With impressive wins over LSU and Alabama, it seems Tennessee will once again get the nod, even if I disagree with it.

TCU has been drug down by the rest of the abysmal Big 12. The Horned Frogs had once-impressive wins over Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State, but those programs all have at least three losses now, with the Wildcats figured to be the only team in this week’s top 25.

As it stands, the LSU Fighting Tigers have everything in front of them. In Brian Kelly’s first year at the helm, he has completely surpassed expectations. They’ll be the highest-ranked two-loss team and should be around the No. 6 or 7 team in the country, probably still behind Tennessee, given the outcome of the contest in Baton Rouge. The Volunteers pummeled the Tigers 40-13, but the Bayou Bengals still control their own destiny, something Josh Heupel‘s squad can’t say.

If LSU wins out, it will have wins over Alabama, Ole Miss, and SEC East champion Georgia. That would undoubtedly get the committee’s attention, and there would be riots in Louisiana if the Tigers were snubbed a playoff spot. Fortunately, that wouldn’t happen. An SEC Champion, even with two losses, will get into the College Football Playoff this year. It would be impossible to keep them out, no matter the shit storm it would cause for the committee. Thankfully for them, Georgia is the best team in the nation by a country mile, and it would take a herculean effort from Jayden Daniels and the Tigers to upset the Dawgs in Atlanta.

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