Predicting the 2026 SEC Alabama Football Season: LSU Tigers
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For installment number nine of wild blind dart-throwing predictions of Alabama opponents, we head down to where Huey Long 2.0 is pilfering the state’s welfare programs to pay for a winning football team.
GAME 9, November 7: L$U TIGER$
Coach: Lane Kiffin (First season at LSU; 116–53 overall)
2025 record: 7-6 (3-5 in SEC, 10th place, lost Texas Bowl to Houston)
CB 2025 Regular Season Prediction:9-3, we missed the boat on that one.
Looking back:We knew it. Brian Kelly was a bad fit, plain and simple. The 2025 season started off with an ugly win at overrated Clemson. After topping two cupcakes and a soft Florida team, lost four of their next five to Ole Miss, Vandy, TAMY and Bama with only South Carolina falling victim to the Tigers. LSU would beat Arkansas and a cupcake, but then lose to Oklahoma on the road and to Houston in the Texas Bowl to end a listless campaign.
Returning starters: 3 on offense, 3 on defense, punter
Key losses: CB Mansoor Delane (1st round, Chiefs), leading tackler SAF AJ Haulcy (3rd round, Colts), WR Zavion Thomas (3rd round, Bears), TE Bauer Sharp (6th round, Buccaneers), WR Barion Brown (6th round, Saints), LB Harold Perkins (6th round, Falcons), QB Garrett Nussmeier (7th round, Chiefs), OG DJ Chester (transfer to Mississippi State), WR Aaron Anderson (UDFA #LifeChoices), SS Jardin Gilbert (to Mississippi State), back-up QB MichaelVan Buren (USF), DE Jack Pyburn (UDFA), 4-year starting kicker Damian Ramos (grad), DL Walter Mathis (Aub), OT Ory Williams (Tenn), OT Tyree Adams (TAMU), OT DJ Chester (Miss. State), OT Carius Curne (Ole Miss)
Top returnees: Kiffin retained four coaches off of Kelly’s staff – mostly because Pete Golding and others told him to go pound sand. They are defensive coordinator Blake Baker, the safeties coach, edge rushers coach, and defensive backs coach.
Among the vital returning players are TE Trey’Dez Green (433 yds, 7 TD), team captain LB Whit Weeks, SS Tamarcus Cooley (40 solo, 30 asst), CB DJ Pickett (3 INT), RB Harlem Berry (491, 2 TD), RB Caden Durham (505 yds, 3 TD), C Braelin Moore, RT Weston Davis, CB PJ Woodland (2 INT), LB Davhon Keys (35 solo, 53 asst), LB West Weeks (44 solo, 76 asst), P Grant Chadwick (45.7 ypp).
Top newcomers: Head coach Lane Kiffin, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., and five other assistants from LFK’s Ole Miss staff. He also hired Kentucky OL coach Eric Wolford who coached Bama’s linemen in Nick Saban’s final two teams (2022–2023).
QB Sam Leavitt (Arizona State), OL Jordan Seaton (Colorado; 2-year starter), S Ty Benefield (Boise, 2-yr starter), WR Jayce Brown (Kansas State; 27 starts), LB TJ Dottery (Ole Miss, 27 starts), RB Dilin Jones (Wisconsin; 300 yds, 2 TD), OG Aliou Bah (UGA>Maryland), SAF Faheem Delane (Ohio State), DE Jordan Ross (Tennessee), DL Malik Blocton (Auburn), possible starting DT Deuce Geralds (frosh from Suwanee, GA), Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright?!?!
Top Key & Peele Transfer Name: DL Princewill Umanmielen (Ole Miss; 9 sacks, 13 TFL),
Bad Omen Name: DL Achilles Woods (from South Alabama)
Of Note: All of Kiffin’s assistants coached at an SEC school in 2025.
Strengths: Freshness and excitement. Things had gone really stale under BK… DL, DB, LB should all be pretty good… Running backs should be improved from as awful as they were last year… Coaches… Kiffin willingness to win at all cost, even if it means burning CFB to the ground… Favorable schedule…
Weaknesses: Rebuilding the OL with some questionable options… Lost top three WRs (Brown, Thomas, Anderson)… All four QBs are new transfers… How good is Sam Leavitt without Jordyn Tyson on the receiving end of his passes?… Leavitt had November foot surgery and limited work in the spring… Whit Weeks broke an ankle last September…
Outlook: LFK has assembled a great deal of talent through the portal (and still shopping) but hardly anyone on the two-deep was on the team last year. That can lead to unfamiliarity and lack of chemistry, especially some of these new guys he is picking up from NFL camps. He filled holes at many spots but oddly could not hold onto many key offensive linemen.
ODDS
- 8.5 Win Total Per FanDuel
- DraftKings has Bama as a 3.5 underdog.
2026 LSU SCHEDULE:
The Aggies, Crimson Tide, and Longhorns all traveling to Def Valley definitely improves the Bayou Bengals’ chances.
- Sat, Sep 5 vs Clemson – W – The Orange Tigers kinda suck.
- Sat, Sep 12 vs Louisiana Tech – W
- Sat, Sep 19 @ Ole Miss – L – I think the Rebs might be up for this one.
- Sat, Sep 26 vs Texas A&M – W – Could be a close one.
- Sat, Oct 3 vs McNeese – W
- Sat, Oct 10 @ Kentucky – W
- Sat, Oct 17 vs Mississippi State – W
- Sat, Oct 24 @ Auburn – Every year, Aubie tends to give someone a scare. This might be the one but still, W for the purple and yeller.
- Sat, Oct 31 bye
- Sat, Nov 7 vs Alabama – W – You know the Crimson Tide is probably not going to win every game this year. Sorry.
- Sat, Nov 14 vs Texas – L – Hangover
- Sat, Nov 21 @ Tennessee – W – Will the Vols be in quit mode?
- Sat, Nov 28 @ Arkansas – W
PREVIOUS 2026 ALABAMA SCHEDULE PREVIEWS:
- Sat, Sep 5 vs East Carolina
- Sat, Sep 12 @ Kentucky
- Sat, Sep 19 vs Florida State
- Sat, Sep 26 vs South Carolina
- Sat, Oct 3 @ Mississippi State
- Sat, Oct 10 vs Georgia
- Sat, Oct 17 @ Tennessee
- Sat, Oct 24 vs Texas A&M
- Sat, Oct 31 – Happy 75th Birthday, Nick!
- Sat, Nov 7 @ LSU
- Sat, Nov 14 @ Vanderbilt
- Sat, Nov 21 vs Chattanooga
- Sat, Nov 28 vs Auburn
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