Heather Dinich breaks down hurdles for LSU making College Football Playoff

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LSU is 6-2 with a massive game at No. 8 Alabama ahead of them for Week 10. If they can defeat the Crimson Tide — what are the chances Brian Kelly can turn this Tigers’ season around in time for the College Football Playoff?

ESPN senior writer Heather Dinich joined the Paul Finebaum Show to discuss her thoughts LSU’s chances of making the playoffs in 2023, and what they need to overcome in order to do so.

“I’ll just remind everybody that no two loss team has ever made the College Football Playoff. That certainly doesn’t mean they can’t,” Dinich told Finebaum. “I’ll go back to LSU last year, and we were talking about them until they lost in the SEC championship game. So, I think that when you look at LSU defensively, they have some questions. Can they play better, more consistently down the stretch?

“But to me, they’ve got to worry about Ole Miss. They’ve got to worry about Florida State. I mean, the head-to-head things come into play and the SEC West could be an interesting tiebreaker situation, quite honestly.”

If LSU can get past Alabama, the Tigers round the regular season out with three home games against Florida, Georgia State and Texas A&M in that order. That means Saturday’s matchup could be what decides the fate of the SEC West if somehow Ole Miss gets taken down before then.

“There are a lot of things that can continue to happen, but LSU’s biggest question mark as far as going all the way up might be what happens to Florida State,” Dinich continued. “That’s because that head to head at the beginning of the season will continue to matter, and it will probably continue to keep [FSU] ahead of LSU as long as Florida State doesn’t lose. If Florida State stumbles somewhere down the stretch, then it could be a question.”

Obviously, LSU would need to win the SEC Championship game, which means they would have to defeat the two-time reigning and defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. But earning those four wins from now until the SEC title game are far from guaranteed.

The Tigers head into Week 10’s blockbuster SEC matchup as a three-point underdog on the road inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, and the over/under total is set at 60 points, according to Vegas Insider. Saturday night’s opening kickoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET live on CBS.