LSU and Arkansas close the regular season with the Boot on the line, except this year both sidelines have brand-new head coaches trying to prove their first year wasn't a fluke or a disaster.
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LSU walks in with a far more decorated preseason profile than Arkansas, which was picked to finish dead last in the SEC while the Tigers landed 5th. That gap in outside expectations, paired with Kiffin's heavily funded roster overhaul, makes LSU the side to back to win outright in a rivalry game where one team is still figuring out its starting quarterback.
LSU
+Kiffin's portal class includes record-setting OL signing
+Preseason SEC media poll picked LSU 5th
−First season under an entirely new coaching staff
−Leavitt coming off Lisfranc foot surgery
Arkansas
+Silverfield brought Memphis staff continuity via transfers
+Home crowd for the rivalry's return to Thanksgiving week
−Picked to finish dead last in the SEC preseason poll
−Quarterback competition unresolved entering fall camp
This isn't the Kelly-Pittman rivalry anymore. Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss to take over LSU after Brian Kelly got fired mid-season, and Arkansas hired Ryan Silverfield away from Memphis after Sam Pittman was let go following a blowout loss to Notre Dame. Both programs spent the offseason rebuilding from scratch, and by the time Fayetteville hosts this one, we'll know whether either rebuild actually worked.
The quarterback situations tell the story of two very different rebuilds. LSU handed the keys to Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt, who spent spring practice rehabbing a Lisfranc foot surgery before reportedly getting cleared for the season. Arkansas, meanwhile, still hadn't settled its quarterback battle as of SEC Media Days in July, with returner KJ Jackson competing against Memphis transfer AJ Hill, a decision Silverfield said wouldn't come until deep into fall camp.
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Money talks in roster building, and LSU spent more of it. Kiffin's portal haul reportedly included signing offensive tackle Jordan Seaton as the highest-paid offensive lineman in college football history, on top of pass rusher Princewill Umanmielen and a five-star freshman class led by defensive lineman Lamar Brown. Arkansas countered with sheer volume, bringing in over 40 transfers of its own, many following Silverfield from Memphis, but the preseason SEC media poll wasn't fooled by the numbers game.
LSU Tigers
Nov 20?@ Tennessee—
Nov 13?vs Texas—
Nov 6?vs Alabama—
Oct 16?vs Mississippi State—
Oct 9?@ Kentucky—
Oct 3?vs McNeese—
Sep 25?vs Texas A&M—
Sep 19?@ Ole Miss—
Sep 12?vs Louisiana Tech—
Sep 5?vs Clemson—
Arkansas Razorbacks
Nov 20?@ Texas—
Nov 13?vs South Carolina—
Nov 6?@ Auburn—
Oct 30?vs Missouri—
Oct 16?@ Vanderbilt—
Oct 9?vs Tennessee—
Oct 2?@ Texas A&M—
Sep 26?vs Tulsa—
Sep 19?vs Georgia—
Sep 12?@ Utah—
Sep 5?vs North Alabama—
Recent form.
That poll has LSU projected 5th in the SEC and Arkansas picked to finish dead last, which is about as lopsided a gap as you'll see between two rivals kicking off the same season. LSU also landed 9 players on the All-SEC preseason teams, including tight end Trey'Dez Green and tackle Seaton on offense. Arkansas doesn't have that kind of returning star power to point to yet, which is part of why the outside expectations sit where they do.
LSU Tigers
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Arkansas Razorbacks
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
By the time this one kicks off, both teams will have played a full season under first-year coaches, and how each locker room has absorbed that change matters more than any preseason ranking. If Leavitt's foot holds up and Kiffin's roster overhaul clicks the way the investment suggests it should, LSU should be the far more finished product walking into Fayetteville. Arkansas's path to pulling off the upset in the Battle for the Boot runs through its home crowd and whatever continuity Silverfield has managed to build with his Memphis transfers by late November.
