LSU football schedule 2022: Ranking the Tigers' opponents

A look at what LSU has to deal with in the 2022 season

This season finds LSU entering a new chapter. Just two years removed from running the table and winning the College Football Playoff, there's a new head coach facing a daunting future with a roster in need of major adjustments.

Enter Brian Kelly. 

LSU made one of the bombshell moves of an already dramatic offseason when it lured the 60 year old away from Notre Dame — where he was the winningest all-time coach — to help engineer the comeback.

Awkward dancing videos and fake Southern accents aside, Kelly has made some positive moves in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail.

Now comes the hard part of putting it together and throwing some punches in the SEC West — and absorbing them, from the likes of Alabama, Texas A&M, Florida, and Ole Miss.

How about that schedule? Scroll through to see how LSU's slate shapes up for the 2022 season, with each game ranked easiest to hardest.

12. Southern

When: Sept. 10

Where: Baton Rouge

What to expect: LSU's home opener after the neutral site game against Florida State should present an opportunity for an easy win. Last season, the Jaguars finished a 4-7 team with a 3-5 mark in conference. Southern didn’t play any Power 5 teams a year ago, and lost against Troy by 52 points in their opener.

11. New Mexico

When: Sept. 24

Where: Baton Rouge

What to expect: This will mark the first time LSU and the Lobos have met on the football field. New Mexico is coming off a 3-9 outing in 2021, scoring seven or fewer points in five games, including a 34-0 loss against Texas A&M. 

10. UAB

When: Nov. 19

Where: Baton Rouge

What to expect: LSU smacked the Blazers around in a 56-17 rout back in 2013, getting revenge from UAB's 13-10 win over the Tigers at the start of the century. This late season game will be a breath of fresh air in-between dates against Alabama, at Arkansas, and the finale on the road against Texas A&M.

9. Florida State

When: Sept. 4

Where: New Orleans

What to expect: Mike Norvell hasn't done much with the Seminoles in two seasons, but a 5-7 outing in 2021 was an improvement from the 3-6 mark it had the year before. And this team very nearly beat Brian Kelly and Notre Dame in last season's opener, orchestrating a comeback and forcing an overtime. A solid first test for Kelly, who can start his LSU tenure with a win against a Power 5 team. 

Watch out for Noles quarterback Jordan Travis, though: he's coming off a 15 TD, 6 INT showing last season, including a five-game stretch in which he didn't throw a pick: the Seminoles went 4-1 in those games and Travis accounted for 13 all-purpose touchdowns. Travis can move this offense and score in bunches.

8. Tennessee

USA Today Images

When: Oct. 8

Where: Baton Rouge

What to expect: The Vols come to Death Valley after playing its two games against LSU at Neyland in a cross-division setting. Tennessee brings back quarterback Hendon Hooker, who led the SEC in pass efficiency a year ago, and commands an offense that ranked in the Top 10 nationally in yards and points per game. LSU should be able to get behind a Vols secondary that last season allowed almost 34 points per game against SEC opposition.

7. Mississippi State

When: Sept. 17

Where: Baton Rouge

What to expect: Last time Mike Leach brought his Bulldogs to Tiger Stadium, the result was a head-turning upset against the then-defending national champions back in the 2020 season opener. LSU is hoping for a better result in what will be this season's SEC debut, but will have to patch up the holes in its secondary before lining up against an Air Raid offense that returns Will Rogers, a 4,700-yard passer a year ago who piled up 36 touchdowns.

6. Florida

When: Oct. 15

Where: Gainesville

What to expect: LSU returns to the site of the thrown shoe, where two years ago the Tigers upset the would-be College Football Playoff-bound Gators. Instead, Florida is now looking at breaking in another head coach. This time it's Billy Napier, a strong recruiter who helped build up the Louisiana program, who meets Kelly in a battle of first-year coaches looking to make a statement in this rivalry. LSU beat this team in a 49-42 upset last fall.

5. Auburn

When: Oct. 1

Where: Auburn

What to expect: Bo Nix engineered Auburn's first win at LSU in 20 years last season running around the Tigers' defense with a battery of scrambles and runs. But the quarterback isn't walking through the tunnel this time after transferring to Oregon. Bryan Harsin enters Year 2 at Auburn on an already hot seat with a decision to make at quarterback, but with a solid rushing attack coming back.

4. Arkansas

When: Nov. 12

Where: Fayetteville

What to expect: LSU owned a five-game win streak against the Hogs, who edged the Tigers by three in overtime last fall to tilt the series back in their favor. Both these teams did some swapping via the transfer portal this offseason and will be a reunion of sorts. Dwight McGlothern and Landon Jackson traded LSU for Arkansas, while Greg Brooks and Joe Foucha landed at Arkansas after leaving LSU. KJ Jefferson returns at quarterback after a very solid outing in 2021, but won't have thousand-yard receiver Treylon Burks coming back.

3. Ole Miss

When: Oct. 22

Where: Baton Rouge

What to expect: The Rebels ended LSU's five-game winning streak last season with a 14-point victory on Eli Manning's jersey retirement day. Ole Miss lost a ton of that offense that ranked No. 1 in the SEC a year ago (and No. 6 in college football), but scored two noteworthy transfer players in former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart and TCU running back Zach Evans. 

Expect a slight step back offensively, but there's still enough speed here to keep Ole Miss undefeated or at one loss heading into mid-October. This team improved defensively last season and should have six starters back, but has to restock at most positions.

2. Texas A&M

When: Nov. 26

Where: College Station

What to expect: LSU has taken eight of the first 10 games against A&M as a conference rival, but both teams are 2-2 in the last four years. LSU upset the Aggies at home in last season's finale, Ed Orgeron's last game with the school.

If all goes according to plan, this game should determine the No. 2 team in the SEC West, and with that seeding a likely New Year's bowl game berth. A&M should play a familiar face at quarterback — Max Johnson, who led LSU to last year's upset.

1. Alabama

USA Today Images

When: Nov. 5

Where: Baton Rouge

Need to know: As it has been for the past 15 years, Alabama remains the yardstick by which success in the SEC is measured. The defending conference champions will likely be the preseason No. 1 team, and could easily be undefeated by the time it lands in Death Valley. Bama has won 10 of the last 11 — the one LSU win was 2019 — but the Tigers played the Tide close a year ago in a six-point loss. Most analysts won't pick LSU in this one, but how well the team plays will go a long way in how fans and the school look towards Brian Kelly's tenure.

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