Brian Kelly describes LSU's approach to noise surrounding College Football Playoff

The LSU Tigers are now sitting with one loss and have won six straight games, including all of their SEC games to this point. With that, head coach Brian Kelly knows his team is in the conversation for the College Football Playoff.

No stranger to making a Playoff push, Kelly knows how to have his LSU team approach the outside noise surrounding the program and he’s confident in the team’s ability to focus.

“I think there’s been enough players that have been down this road before,” Brian Kelly said. “We had to go to Alabama and win a football game and we came up short last year. So, they understand this is a week-to-week thing. You win and everyone thinks you’re great, lose and you’re a bum.”

At the time of LSU’s loss to Alabama last season, the Tigers were in a position to make a run at the SEC Championship Game but came up short. That experience, Kelly believes, will help them focus now.

“Our guys stay in the present. They understand how important it is to stay grounded and focused on really what can they control,” Kelly said. “I think that they’ve gotten to that point where whatever the narratives are and whatever people are saying, we’ve already kind of covered it with them in that what’s really important is what you can control. What people write about you, what they say about you, you can’t control. Control the controllables and, for us, it’s about our preparation. If we do a really good job in our preparation, then good things usually happen.”

While Brian Kelly has yet to take LSU to the College Football Playoff, he took Notre Dame to the Playoff on two different occasions. Now, with the Playoff expanding to 12 teams, there is more opportunity to make it there.

Next up for LSU is a game that, in many ways, replicates the game against Alabama from last season. The Tigers are heading on the road to take on the Texas A&M Aggies. A one-loss SEC rival with an intimidating home environment, Texas A&M and LSU both have plenty to play for, including the College Football Playoff race. So, Brian Kelly will need to have his team ready.

That game against Texas A&M is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. EST on Saturday. Following that game, LSU will then have the chance to host Alabama in a game that is expected to be similarly important.