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LSU football bowl projections: Where the Tigers are predicted to play after Week 5

cory diaz, lafayette daily advertiser
·4 min read
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LSU football has reached its first off week of the 2024 season and there have a few surprises for the team through the first month-plus of the year.

The Tigers (4-1, 1-0 SEC) dropped their season opener to USC in Las Vegas, a result that was shocking to some. But coach Brian Kelly and company have bounced back to win their last four games, including a dramatic come-from-behind victory at South Carolina three weeks ago to open Southeastern Conference play as well as a 34-17 win at home over UCLA.

LSU currently sits No. 13 in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and Associated Press polls, which is where it started the season. The perception is Kelly's team is still a fringe College Football Playoff team but as of now, it's on the outside looking in.

With no LSU game this week, let's take a look at bowl game projections for Week 6 and see where analysts see the Tigers spending bowl season.

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LSU football bowl game projections

Most predicted: LSU to Gator Bowl

Of the nine projections we looked at, LSU being invited to the Gator Bowl come season's end was the most common. USA Today, Brett McMurphy from the Action Network, Bleacher Report and 247Sports all see LSU landing in Jacksonville to cap the year.

This season, the Gator Bowl is scheduled to be played Jan. 2 (7:30 p.m. ESPN).

Forecasted matchups for the Tigers in the Gator Bowl consist of Louisville or Pitt. Surprisingly, LSU has only played in the Gator Bowl once, a 30-13 win over South Carolina in 1987.

Most common bowl game matchup: LSU vs Louisville

Three of the four pundits that project LSU to be in the Gator Bowl have it matching up with Louisville from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Cardinals just lost their first game on the season at Notre Dame this past week and have fallen to No. 22 in the Coaches and AP Polls but have had a nice start to 2024, including a win over Georgia Tech.

LSU and Louisville have faced off once before in a bowl game in the 2016 Citrus Bowl. The Tigers won 29-9.

Full list of LSU bowl projections

All possible LSU bowl game destinations

Outside of landing in the College Football Playoff, which would include semifinal games at the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl this season, there are as many as nine possible bowl game destinations for the Tigers.

The SEC has seven primary tie-ins with bowl games while there are two other locations that the league could help fill if needed.

Primary tie-ins include the Liberty Bowl vs. the Big 12, the Las Vegas Bowl vs. to be determined (it was supposed to be PAC-12), the ReliaQuest Bowl vs. the Big Ten/ACC, the Texas Bowl vs. the Big 12, the Gator Bowl vs. the ACC and the Music City Bowl vs. the Big Ten.

LSU could also fill a spot at the Birmingham Bowl vs. the American Athletic Conference or the Gasparilla Bowl vs. the ACC/American, both those bowl games are secondary tie-ins.

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football bowl game projections: List of projections for the Tigers