It’s never too early to look ahead to next season’s College Football Playoff despite the Ohio State Buckeyes capturing the National Championship just weeks ago.

This week, ESPN revealed the early College Football Playoff projection with the LSU Tigers cracking the list.

LSU came in as the No. 10 seed with a first-round matchup against the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend. The winner would go on to play the early projected No. 2 seeded Penn State Nittany Lions.

“LSU is in because Garrett Nussmeier-to-Aaron Anderson is a proven pass combination, Brian Kelly has seemingly done excellent transfer portal work this time, and the odds of a second-year leap for defensive coordinator Blake Baker, with linebackers Whit Weeks and Harold Perkins Jr. returning, are solid,” ESPN wrote.

The Full First Round Matchups:

No. 12 Boise State at No. 5 Alabama
No. 11 North Carolina at No. 6 Texas
No. 10 LSU at No. 7 Notre Dame
No. 9 Ohio State at No. 8 Michigan

Top four seeds: 1. Georgia, 2. Penn State, 3. Utah, 4. Louisville

The Projection:

“Quarterfinals: 1 Georgia over 8 Michigan (Sugar Bowl), 5 Alabama over 4 Louisville (Orange Bowl), 3 Utah over 6 Texas (Big 12’s revenge in the Cotton Bowl), 2 Penn State over 7 Notre Dame (Rose Bowl)

Semifinals: 1 Georgia over 5 Alabama (Peach Bowl), 2 Penn State over 3 Utah (Fiesta Bowl)

Finals: 2 Penn State over 1 Georgia: ‘Hey, if Will Howard can win a national title, so can Drew Allar. Especially with new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles in Penn State’s corner.'”

ESPN, The Action Network, 247Sports and On3 Sports have all released their early predictions for the Week 1 AP Poll. Where did the Tigers land?

The ESPN Ranking: No. 8

ESPN released its “Way-Too-Early” rankings following January’s National Championship Game with the LSU Tigers coming at No. 8.

With a unique combination of returning pieces and additions through the portal, ESPN revealed the reasoning while listing the key roster moves this offseason.

Key Returners: QB Garrett Nussmeier, RB Caden Durham, WR Aaron Anderson, LB Whit Weeks, CB Ashton Stamps, LB Harold Perkins Jr., S Jardin Gilbert.

Key Losses: WR Kyren Lacy, WR CJ Daniels, OT Will Campbell, OT Emery Jones Jr., TE Mason Taylor, G Garrett Dellinger, G Miles Frazier, LB Greg Penn III, DE Bradyn Swinson.

2025 Outlook: “The Tigers enter Year 4 under Brian Kelly needing to rebuild an offensive line that loses multi-year starters Campbell, Dellinger and Jones. But other than that, LSU appears in great shape with returning offensive stars like Anderson, Durham and Nussmeier, the latter of whom ranked second in the SEC with 4,052 passing yards and 29 touchdowns in 2024. Kelly was also quite active in the transfer portal, adding DEs Patrick Payton (FSU) and Jack Pyburn (Florida) and star WRs Nic Anderson (Oklahoma) and Barion Brown (Kentucky).”

The Action Network Ranking: No. 5

The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy revealed his early Top-25 ballot with the LSU Tigers coming in at No. 5 after crushing the NCAA Transfer Portal during the offseason.

McMurphy’s Top-10:
1. Ohio St
2. Texas
3. Penn St
4. Georgia
5. LSU Tigers
6. Oregon
7. Notre Dame
8. Clemson
9. Tennessee
10. Miami

The 247Sports Ranking: No. 12

Brian Kelly’s program is stealing the spotlight once again after being labeled a team that can “flash during the 2025 season,” according to 247Sports.

“Power-ranked inside the elite tier of our way-too-early SEC lookahead for 2025, it’s a crucial year for Brian Kelly at LSU. He was able to convince Garrett Nussmeier to return for his senior season instead of enter the 2025 NFL Draft and the Tigers bring back linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., whose junior campaign was cut short due to injury,” Brad Crawford of 247Sports said.

“If the Tigers make noise in the opener at Clemson, beware: This could be a playoff team. Of course, they’re going to have to break their string of season-opening losses first.”

Now, 247Sports has revealed the early rankings with Kelly’s club coming in at No. 12.

“With more than a dozen high-end portal acquisitions, LSU’s plan to reach the playoff for the first time under Brian Kelly is off to a hot start following the bowl win over Baylor. All-American candidate Harold Perkins Jr. announced his return, along with quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. Those two are the unquestioned leaders in Baton Rouge.”

The On3 Sports Ranking: No. 15

On3 Sports released the Top-25 early poll with the Tigers come in at No. 15 in the “Way-Too-Early” predictions.

Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman logged their picks and reasoning:

Staples’ Take: “Having QB Garrett Nussmeier back is huge, but just as important was a concerted effort to improve the talent on defense through the transfer portal. The additions of cornerback Mansoor Delane (Virginia Tech), safety Tamarcus Cooley (N.C. State), defensive tackle Sydir Mitchell (Texas) and edges Jimari Butler (Nebraska), Patrick Payton (Florida State) and Jack Pyburn (Florida) should give coordinator Blake Baker more options. Plus, Baker gets to work with five-star plus cornerback signee D.J. Pickett. Nussmeier gets to throw to transfers Nic Anderson (Oklahoma) and Barion Brown (Kentucky), who should allow the offense to stretch the field.”

It’s mixed reviews heading into the offseason with LSU’s outlook certainly differing among national outlets, but after a productive stretch of roster reconstruction, Kelly’s program is in an efficient spot.

LSU Adds Commitments From Seven Top-100 Transfers in the Portal

LSU Dishes Out Offer to No. 1 Quarterback in America

Nick Saban Calls LSU Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier a “Sleeper” Ahead of 2024 Season

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.