2020 LSU Tigers football team

2020 LSU Tigers football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionWest Division
Record5–5 (5–5 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorSteve Ensminger (3rd season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorBo Pelini (4th season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumTiger Stadium
Seasons
← 2019
2021 →
2020 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 13 Florida x   8 2     8 4  
No. 7 Georgia   7 2     8 2  
Missouri   5 5     5 5  
Kentucky   4 6     5 6  
Tennessee*   3 7     3 7  
South Carolina   2 8     2 8  
Vanderbilt   0 9     0 9  
West Division
No. 1 Alabama x$#^   10 0     13 0  
No. 4 Texas A&M   8 1     9 1  
Auburn   6 4     6 5  
LSU*   5 5     5 5  
Ole Miss   4 5     5 5  
Arkansas   3 7     3 7  
Mississippi State   3 7     4 7  
Championship: Alabama 52, Florida 46
  • # – College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • * – Tennessee vacated all wins due to NCAA violations. LSU was ineligible for postseason due to self imposed ban.
    Note: Due to COVID-19, the SEC played a conference-only schedule.
Rankings from AP Poll.

The 2020 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and competed in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by fourth year head coach Ed Orgeron.

The season was not an easy one for LSU, who were the defending national champions. After starting the year with a stunning home loss to Mississippi State, the Tigers were only able to string together five wins. In addition to losing a record 14 players to the NFL draft the year before, All-American wide receiver, Ja'Marr Chase opted out of play before the season. The Tigers also lost their starting quarterback, Myles Brennan, three games in and had to rely on true freshmen, TJ Finley and Max Johnson, for the remainder of the year. In spite of these obstacles, the Tigers managed to end the season on a positive note with wins over sixth-ranked Florida and Ole Miss, the former as a 24-point underdog. The Tigers also had a scheduled home game vs. Missouri switched to Columbia three days before kickoff due to the threat of Hurricane Delta along the Louisiana coast.

By comparison, LSU had already eclipsed more losses by their seventh game of the season than they had in all of 2018 and 2019 combined. Still, the victories over Florida and Ole Miss allowed LSU to avert its first losing season since 1999, when the Tigers went 3–8. The .500 season is the first for LSU since a 5–5–1 ledger in 1974.

On December 9, LSU announced a self-imposed bowl ban for the 2020 season. Although the Tigers did not finish the season with six wins, the NCAA removed bowl eligibility requirements for the 2020 bowl season.[1] This self-imposed bowl ban was enacted due to an NCAA investigation at LSU over allegations of improper booster payments to their players.[2]

  1. ^ "DI Council approves football bowl eligibility requirements waiver". NCAA.org (Press release). October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  2. ^ Scarborough, Alex. "LSU football self-imposes one-year bowl ban for 2020 season". ESPN. Retrieved December 9, 2020.