College football rankings: Where will LSU football fall after loss to Florida State?
For the second time in as many seasons, Brian Kelly and LSU football opened their campaigns with a demoralizing loss to Florida State.
But the Tigers' losses in 2022 and 2023 are not the same: Whereas LSU lost a heartbreaker last season on a blocked point-after attempt to send the game to overtime, Sunday's game in Orlando, Florida, was nothing short of a rout. Florida State capitalized on first-half mistakes by the Tigers, including two turnovers on downs inside the Seminoles' red zone, before pouring it on in the second half of a 45-24 victory.
It's not the end of the line for Kelly and Co. It's even possible the Tigers still compete for a berth in the College Football Playoff (it'd be their first since 2019). But there will be a consequence for what happened Sunday: LSU will drop in the rankings when the latest polls are released on Tuesday.
REQUIRED READING: Grading LSU football in its embarrassing defeat to Florida State
What will the Tigers be ranked? Here's a breakdown of how the other top teams played in the opening weekend to see where they might fall.
Where will LSU be ranked in Week 2 AP, Coaches polls?
It doesn't look pretty for the Tigers following their Week 1 loss to the Seminoles, but at least they won't be alone in their misery. No. 9 Clemson was shocked in a 28-7 loss to Duke on Monday, making for the second top-10 team to lose in Week 1.
Other than Clemson, each of the other top 10 teams — No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 6 USC, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Florida State and No. 10 Tennessee — won in Week 1. That mean LSU's drop in the rankings won't be mitigated by multiple defeats among top 10 teams. (That said, the Buckeyes' lackluster 23-3 win over Indiana might vault the Seminoles over them in the latest rankings).
REQUIRED READING: Keon Coleman, Florida State hand LSU football a lopsided opening night defeat
It seems as if LSU is in danger of falling out of the top 10 entirely. It's possible the relative struggles of No. 12 Texas (37-10 win over Rice) and No. 14 Utah (24-11 win over Florida) help LSU settle somewhere between Nos. 12-14. But don't look for coaches or pollsters to punish the Longhorns and Utes for victories, especially when compared to a thorough defeat by LSU.
If the simplest thing to do is push LSU back to the next-highest-ranked one-loss team (behind Clemson), then look no further than No. 16, the ranking TCU held before suffering a 45-42 loss by Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes.
Whether the polls drop LSU a whopping 11 spots in Week 2 remains to be seen.
Week 2 ranking prediction: 15th
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: College football rankings: Where will LSU football fall in polls?
