Predicting the first loss for every college football top 25 team

No. 12 LSU Tigers: at Florida, Oct. 7

Ed Orgeron’s first full year in Baton Rouge should get off to a good start with a soft schedule, but the second half is loaded with tough road trips for a fairly young team.

Following a 2-2 start, the Tigers dismissed longtime head coach Les Miles after years of threatening to do so and promoted defensive line coach Ed Orgeron. LSU closed the year on a 6-2 run under Orgeron and had little trouble slowing down Lamar Jackson in an easy Citrus Bowl win.

Running back Derrius Guice is a Heisman contender and will have no trouble replacing Leonard Fournette’s production, while senior quarterback Danny Etling will look to take a step forward under new coordinator Matt Canada following a promising 2016 campaign. The LSU defense loses a ton of production to the NFL as always, but there’s blue-chip talent everywhere and having the nation’s top pass rusher in Arden Key should help stabilize things.

While the season opener against BYU should provide a moderate test, LSU’s toughest game in September is a week three trip to Mississippi State, as quarterback Nick Fitzgerald will challenge the Tigers. As good as Fitzgerald is, Guice should be able to run all over a Bulldogs defense which is replacing multiple key starters from a unit that was awful in 2016 to begin with.

Three weeks later, the Tigers head to the Swamp, where their 5-0 run will come to an end. Running the ball on Florida is going to be difficult, so Etling and a group of unproven receivers will need to gel quickly and put together their best game of the year yet to have a chance at the road win.

Pulling off a victory would be crucial, as the Tigers have trips to Alabama and Tennessee along with a home date against Auburn over the final six games of the season.