That was a gut-wrenching loss for No. 7 LSU on Saturday night. There's just no getting around it. No. 8 Ole Miss got its revenge against Lane Kiffin and dealt the Tigers' College Football Playoff chances a blow in the process.
As bad as it may hurt, LSU still has plenty of hope of reaching the playoff, which is the goal in Kiffin's first year on the job. The path is just a bit narrower now. It's probably fair to assume -- a dangerous concept in college football -- that the Tigers are safely in the playoff at 10-2.
That gives them one more slip-up over the last nine games, and they certainly have the talent to go 8-1 the rest of the way. That said, the biggest challenges aren't evenly distributed. LSU will have to feast on less-talented rosters before November, when it faces one of the toughest stretches in the SEC.
Here is how Kiffin and LSU can navigate the path to the playoff after their 32-24 loss to Ole Miss. There are two pieces of good news for LSU coming out of this game. The first is that the schedule is about to lighten up considerably.
The Tigers do have to regroup quickly before a rivalry game against Texas A&M next weekend, but that matchup doesn't look as daunting after Kentucky dismantled the Aggies in Kyle Field. After that, LSU gets four extremely winnable games, and it will be the clear favorite in each. The Wildcats do look tougher after beating the Aggies in College Station, but that's the same team that got hammered by Alabama in Lexington.
Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor should scare LSU, but the rest of the Tigers' roster is in a different stratosphere. Auburn just gave up 44 points to Florida at home, so Lane Kiffin might have a field day scheming up that game plan. The other piece of good news LSU gets moving forward is that the toughest opposing quarterback on its schedule is now in the rearview mirror.
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