LSU football’s College Football Playoff hopes just took a major hit after they fell 35-34 to Kentucky in a brutal overtime loss on Saturday. But get this: even after that defeat, ESPN’s SP+ rankings still have the Tigers hanging tough as the No. 9 team nationally. Talk about a statistical head-scratcher after a heartbreaker!
The Overtime Heartbreak at Kroger Field
That Saturday night game at Kroger Field was an absolute nail-biter. LSU went down 35-34 after Kentucky’s Kenny Minchey punched in a two-point conversion in overtime to seal the win. It was a tough pill to swallow for head coach Lane Kiffin in his first season with the Tigers, dealing a real blow to their playoff aspirations. LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt was slinging it, and receivers like Eugene Wilson III, Jackson Harris, and Roman Mothershed were making plays. Mothershed even grabbed a catch and ran it in for a score, with Malik Elzy celebrating the score. But in the end, it wasn’t enough, with Kentucky’s Minchey sealing the deal and Grant Godfrey battling LSU’s Dilin Jones, while TJ Dottery made tackles for LSU on defense.
The SP+ Ranking That’s Got Everyone Talking
So, the loss stings, right? You’d expect a big tumble in the rankings. But ESPN’s SP+, which is this stat that measures a team’s efficiency while adjusting for tempo and who they played, well, it’s still pretty high on LSU. They clocked in with a 21.7 rating, which is what puts them at No. 9 nationally. Yeah, they did drop two spots and their rating went down by a tiny 0.1 from where they started the week, but staying in the top 10 after an overtime defeat like that? That says something about what the numbers think of this team’s underlying strength, even when the scoreboard doesn’t go their way against teams like Kentucky, who had their kicker Adam Zouagui tie the game earlier with punter Wilson Berry reacting.
It was a tough outing for LSU, no doubt, and the College Football Playoff road just got a lot harder. But for the SP+ to still put them at No. 9 means there’s something there. The Tigers are gonna need to prove those efficiency metrics right and bounce back strong after that Kentucky heartbreaker.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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