The start of the college football season for the LSU Tigers is just days away. The team will travel to Los Angeles on Thursday and practice at the Rose Bowl on Friday. LSU and UCLA are set for 7:30 pm CST kick-off in Pasadena.
There are plenty of storylines to watch in this game. We have Ed Orgeron returning to Southern California, where he was once the interim head coach for the USC Trojans. The school opted to hire Steve Sarkisian to be the next head coach forcing Orgeron to eventually land in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers and Bruins will face off for the first time in their history.
UCLA vs the SEC: 18-15-4
The Bruins have played against eight of the SEC’s 14 members. This game will give UCLA games against nine teams from the conference. Against Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Texas A&M, they are 8-8.
LSU vs the Pac-12: 22-4-0
The Tigers have played against nine of the Pac-12’s members, UCLA will make No. 10. The only Pac-12 team that has yet to lose to LSU after meeting them on the field is Stanford.
List
Looking back at the LSU Tigers recent history in season openers
Here is what the experts think about the UCLA-LSU matchup on Saturday night:
Geaux247 Game Picks
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
It is a clean sweep here with Geaux247 all picking LSU to win this game.
Geaux247 Predictions
ESPN Matchup Indicator
(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
On Tuesday LSU was favored 53.2% according to the Football Power Index
ESPN FPI
Bleacher Report
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Instead of hitting the reset button on defense again, the Tigers pretty much just need to replace Jabril Cox and JaCoby Stevens. With any luck, star cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. will be healthy this season to lead a drastically improved D. Thompson-Robinson will need to be on his A-plus game in this one.
LSU 35, UCLA 27
Sporting News
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
This spread looks low at first glance given UCLA’s struggles in non-conference games and the talent on LSU’s roster. This line ticked up before UCLA blew out Hawaii, and has now settled back at 3.5 We like LSU to win by double digits.
LSU wins 38-27
College Football News
(Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
UCLA will look great against a terrific team, but it’s not going to have quite enough to pull off the win in the final ten minutes. It’ll have two late drives with take the momentum back, but LSU will hold firm on both of them.
LSU 34, UCLA 27
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