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Joel Klatt: USC-LSU has biggest impact on 2024 season of any Week 1 game

Derek Peterson

By Derek Peterson

Published:

Joel Klatt believes the LSU-USC contest in Las Vegas on Sunday night has the largest implications on the 2024 college football season of any game on the Week 1 schedule.

“I believe it sets the tone for the entire narrative about number of participants in the College Football Playoff from the Big Ten or the SEC,” Klatt argued on his podcast this week. “These teams largely sit in that same pocket. Whether you rank them between fourth and fifth in their respective conferences, this is a direct comparison between the 2 conferences — the Big Ten and the SEC.

“Whoever wins this game starts to think of those Playoff implications and what they mean and their path to the College Football Playoff. If you lose this game, you are behind the 8-ball in a big way and you’ve got to win some games that, quite frankly, on paper it doesn’t look like you should win during the course of the regular season.”

The point Klatt makes about narrative is an important one. The College Football Playoff selection committee hasn’t exactly been open about how it will weigh strength of schedule against record when it comes to comparing teams.

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the SEC owns all 9 of college football’s toughest schedules in 2024. All 16 SEC schools have a top-30 strength of schedule. Missouri is the only SEC program outside the top 25.

Contrast that with the Big Ten, which has 7 schools outside the top 30.

Wins will be important, but how these teams fare in the nonconference portion of their schedule might matter more than ever. If LSU loses 3 games in the SEC, but blows out USC in a neutral site matchup to open the season, the committee might be more forgiving. The same applies going the other way.

The SEC will play a handful of high-profile games against the ACC throughout the season, but the select SEC/B1G games on the schedule are important for both conferences. Texas travels to Michigan in Week 2. Alabama goes to Wisconsin in Week 3. Those games will inform the committee’s thinking when it comes to selecting at-large teams.

But, to Klatt’s point, none might end up being bigger than Week 1’s LSU-USC bout. ESPN Bet has LSU priced at +115 to make the CFP. USC is +450 to make the CFP.

The 13th-ranked Tigers are a 4.5-point favorite in the game against the 23rd-ranked Trojans. Kickoff on Sunday is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.