Projecting Possible Bowl Games for LSU Football
With Saturday's emotional last second win over Texas A&M, the Tigers are now bowl eligible and have avoided a losing season. But with offensive line coach Brad Davis taking over for the final few weeks of the regular season, the real question now becomes where will the Tigers go?
LSU worked extremely hard these last two weeks to get bowl eligible and pick up wins over UL-Monroe and Texas A&M to get back to .500, buying this 2021 team a few more weeks together.
On a number of popular outlets, there's a common theme within the projections of which bowl the Tigers will wind up in. Here's the latest following the Tigers win over the Aggies:
The Athletic- LSU vs Houston in the Birmingham Bowl
CBS Sports- LSU vs UCF in Birmingham Bowl
ESPN- LSU vs ULL in Birmingham Bowl
LSU vs Army in First Responder Bowl
It's another couple of weeks this team will have together and continue to build on the future. These next few weeks are an opportunity for a number of the younger players on the roster to continue to focus on their skills and develop, though working with an interim coach will be interesting.
Ed Orgeron talked about numerous players over the years, including former offensive lineman Dare Rosenthal as well as current players like Jaray Jenkins and Joseph Evans who have benefitted from the extra bowl practices in recent years.
"It's another month to work with these guys, a bowl game is what we were fighting for tonight," quarterback Max Johnson said after the Texas A&M game. "Our guys are excited to work. We will get a little break and get back to work."
LSU could also certainly be getting some help back for its postseason game as defensive tackle Maason Smith is only a week or two from being able to return and Sage Ryan is on a similar timeline. Of course at this time of year it's also prudent to wonder which of the more high profiled players will elect to sit out.
Linebacker Damone Clark would be a prime candidate but the star of the defense says he wants to play one more game as a Tiger in a bowl game. There are a number of seniors still trying to put on good game tape and one more opportunity before the combine and pre NFL draft process will make a lot of sense for veterans like Neil Farrell, Liam Shanahan, Austin Deculus and Ed Ingram.
Regardless of who does or doesn't play, while this bowl game won't mean much to the average LSU fan, there are many underlying implications and advantages for carrying it out. Now it's just a waiting game to see where LSU falls.
