quote:
I haven't looked at the schedule to see who we only play once next year but a split with UK/TN/AR/Aub feels like it would be a huge achievement.

That won't come out until later in the year. We know LSU will play Alabama, Arkansas and A&M 2x. Given the fact LSU played Kentucky and Tennessee 2x last season you'd have to expect LSU will only play them one time this season (Likely Kentucky at home and Tennessee on the road). It seems like the most likely 2x candidates are two of the group of Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, South Carolina and/or Auburn. Of course, that is just a guess. On paper that would seem to be an easier schedule than last season where LSU had to play both Florida and Auburn on the road in addition to Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee 2x. At minimum, if LSU plays Florida and Auburn only once next season I think both games would be at home.

LSU is playing in what looks to be a pretty weak Thanksgiving OOC tournament. The SEC (as a whole) and the schedule may be somewhat weaker than last year's schedule. It will be interesting to see what McMahon does with is OOC schedule. Wade's approach was to manipulate a high NET ranking by playing several under-the-radar good mid-major teams, along with 1-2 neutral site games in "pro" cities/venues (Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Brooklyn - which was canceled). Wade's approach worked because LSU always had a strong NET ranking. Of course, it helped that LSU was always elite on at least one side of the ball as well. However, my only criticism with Wade's scheduling is that he never brought in any power conf. programs to the PMAC in November or December. The closest we got was Houston in 2018 which was the year that program started to really take off. It would be great for the program and fan interest to have a big name matchup in the lull between the end of the football regular season and the beginning of SEC play.