Lane Kiffin Blames SEC Schedule for LSU's Disappointing Season

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin is already making excuses for the team's disappointing regular season, blaming the SEC's new nine-game conference schedule for the team's injuries and losses. Kiffin argued that the schedule guarantees the SEC eight additional in-conference losses, which he believes is affecting the team's performance. He also claimed that the schedule is making it harder for teams to build depth due to the transfer portal and NIL. However, ESPN's SP+ rankings show that the Big Ten has nine teams in the top 30, compared to seven for the SEC, suggesting that the Big Ten's 'depth' is better than the SEC's this season. The SEC is also getting preferential treatment from human poll voters, with five teams ranked despite having two losses, while no other conference has a ranked team with two losses.