LSU's paths to the 2022 SEC Championship

The LSU football team is 7-2 overall and 5-1 in Southeastern Conference play.

Coming off a 32-31 overtime win over No. 6 Alabama, the Tigers moved from No. 10 up to No. 7 in the latest CFB Playoff Rankings.

But before the Tigers can focus on postseason opportunities, LSU will need to close out the final three games to secure a bid to the 2022 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on December 3.

LSU travels to Arkansas (5-4 overall, 2-3 in SEC) on Saturday for an 11 a.m. kickoff on ESPN, then close out the season at home against UAB and on the road at Texas A&M.

What do the Tigers need to do to punch a ticket to the SEC Championship?

LSU’s path to the 2022 SEC Championship Game

With LSU’s win over Alabama, the Tigers moved into sole possession of first place in the SEC West.

At 7-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play, LSU holds the tiebreaker over Ole Miss (8-1 overall, 4-1 in SEC) thanks to a head-to-head win this season. The Tide (7-2 overall, 4-2 in SEC) are in third place in the SEC West race.

For LSU, there’s two ways to secure a spot in Atlanta.

1) Win out. LSU controls its own destiny, so wins at both Arkansas and Texas A&M would leave no doubt.

2) Beat Arkansas OR Texas A&M + Ole Miss loses another SEC game. A result in this scenario could come as soon as this weekend. If LSU beats Arkansas at 11 a.m., then Alabama beats Ole Miss at 2:30 p.m., the Tigers would be in the SEC Championship game before dinner on Saturday night. Even if the Tigers then lost in College Station, LSU would finish 6-2 in the SEC and would own the tie-breaker over both the Rebels and Tide.

If the Tigers lose to Arkansas on Saturday and the Rebels win, LSU would need to beat Texas A&M and have the Rebels drop one of the final regular season games at Arkansas or at home against Mississippi State. If the Tigers lose on Saturday and Alabama beats Ole Miss, a win for the Tigers against Texas A&M in late-November would punch a ticket to Atlanta.

LSU moves to No. 7 in CFB Playoff Rankings

LSU surged three spots to No. 7 in this week’s edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings, the CFP Committee announced on ESPN Tuesday evening.

LSU (7-2 overall) made its debut at No. 10 in the first edition of the CFP Rankings last week.

Georgia (9-0) is No. 1, followed by Ohio State (9-0), Michigan (9-0) and TCU (9-0). Tennessee (8-1) starts the bottom half of the Top 10 at No. 5, followed by Oregon (8-1), LSU, Southern Cal (8-1), Alabama (7-2) and Clemson (8-1).

Other SEC teams in the rankings include: Ole Miss (8-1) at No. 11 and Kentucky (6-3) at No. 24. Florida State (6-3), LSU’s season-opening opponent, is No. 23, while Tulane (8-1 is No. 17.

The Tigers, coming off a thrilling 32-31 overtime win over Alabama on Saturday in Tiger Stadium, are the highest two-loss team in the rankings.

On the comparison between LSU and one-loss Oregon, who is ranked one spot ahead of the Tigers at No 6, CFP Selection Committee Chair Boo Corrigan said, “We talked about everything. We have multiple teams on the board. We’re looking at as much information as we can find on it.

“Obviously, the LSU wins the last couple of weeks with Alabama and Mississippi has played in strong in the last couple weeks. If you think back to last week, we had LSU at 10, so there was a lot of respect for LSU going into that room.

“Again, the Oregon piece of losing that game early and averaging over 40 points in their last eight games, the job that Bo Nix has done both running for touchdowns and throwing for touchdowns, it’s really an impressive team, as well. Again, we’re looking at everything that we can find as well as watching the games and making sure we’re doing a full evaluation.”

LSU returns to action on Saturday, traveling to face Arkansas at 11 a.m. in Fayetteville. The game will be televised on ESPN.