Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers Named a ‘CFP or Bust’ Team Ahead of 2025 Season

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers continue working through a critical offseason in Baton Rouge with expectations rising ahead of the 2025 season.

Kelly and Co. have retooled the roster with the talent-level continuing to grow for the program as Spring Camp continues.

But it’s never too early to discuss what’s to come this upcoming fall with ESPN analyst Greg McElroy labeling the LSU Tigers a “College Football Playoff or Bust” program.

He hopped on the ‘Always College Football’ podcast last week where he listed the Tigers as a team that is entering a critical season.

“It’s probably a little bit unfair, right,” McElroy said. “There’s 12 teams that make the College Football Playoff every single year and those are the teams right now that are at the top of the sport.”

Which teams did McElroy go with?

The First Team Up: Alabama Crimson Tide

McElroy went with his alma mater first as Kalen DeBoer and Co. prepare for a pivotal second season in Tuscaloosa.

In the first year without Nick Saban, there were hurdles to jump, as expected, but now it’s about returning to the Crimson Tide standard.

“I think Kalen DeBoer walked into a situation last year that was a lot more difficult than people realize. No one wants to acknowledge that because people just look at the amount of stars that were on the roster and the star ratings of all the players, and the amount of guys that came back with some production in the past and people are going to look at his situation and say, ‘Well, he inherited a great roster and, look, they regressed from a win-loss standpoint,'” McElroy said.

“Yeah, that’s accurate. So, the perception of Alabama’s roster was different than the reality but you’re not going to change the perception overnight. People still believe that Alabama has more talent than anybody else in the sport. I would tell you they don’t but it doesn’t change the fact that Kalen DeBoer enters year number two with immense pressure.”

“I’m going to put him in the playoff-or-bust category because, when you’re looking at it through the lens of the Alabama fan, I think they view any season in which they don’t make the playoff as a massive failure, understandably, especially when you take into account the success that they’ve had dating back to 2008.”

Then… The LSU Tigers

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers enter “College Football Playoff or Bust” territory, according to McElroy, with a talented nucleus returning in 2025.

“Now, part of this pressure was felt a little bit by the breakthrough that Notre Dame had last year. And I’m not saying that his previous destination has anything to do with his current job status,” McElroy said.

“But, when you see Brian Kelly leave, citing the challenges at Notre Dame to win a national championship to go to LSU where it might be a little bit easier path to win a national championship just based on the fact that the three previous head coaches all won one?

“It probably looked a little bit like, well, Brian Kelly is taking a job that’s going to get him there faster. And then Marcus Freeman goes on to take Notre Dame within one game of winning the national championship.

“You look too at what Brian Kelly has coming back this year – improvements are hopefully being made on defense, they’ve adequately addressed the receiver position in the portal, they have a tremendous quarterback.

“They do have to replace a couple pieces on the offensive line but, you look at what LSU has returning? They have as few question marks as just about anybody not named Texas in the SEC. I think this year for LSU is playoff-or-bust. They make the playoff? Good year. They miss the playoff? Feels like a real disappointment, doesn’t it.”