Florida State-LSU game in 2023 has 'everything'

On3’s JD PicKell recently broke down college football’s games of the year heading into the season, speaking on 2023’s most highly anticipated matchups of the season. And according to PicKell, fans won’t have to wait very long at all to get one.

Florida State and LSU square off in Week 1 of the season in an exciting rematch of last year’s thrilling opening game for both squads. But in this year’s matchup, the stakes are even higher for both teams and fanbases.

“Week 1 we’ve got a game of the year in my opinion, because last year Week 1 it was a game of the year with LSU and Florida State,” PicKell said. “This will be on a Sunday and this game, if you look at it from the outside looking in, it just has everything. The loser of this game loses their mulligan for the rest of the way, meaning if you drop if game if you’re Florida State or LSU, you got to go perfect throughout the rest of your schedule. Florida State still has to play Clemson, LSU they have to play in the SEC. So both their teams are going to have their work cut out for them should they lose.”

It’s no secret that a ticket into the College Football Playoff requires a nearly flawless record with the four-team playoff model still in place. And following this matchup, one country’s most hyped-up teams will either have an early blemish on their schedule and an uphill battle moving forward or a strong, impressive win to start off their CFP campaign.

“Now should they win, you get some breathing room. You have a chance to potentially drop one game, though neither team plans on dropping a game the rest of the year, but if you do drop a game you’re not out of the race. But if you drop two, history tells us you’re out of the College Football Playoff,” PicKell explained.

Like last year’s edition of this matchup, this game will be played on a neutral site at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. Both fanbases will likely travel well and last year’s blocked extra point to end the game and secure Florida State the 24-23 victory to open the season only raises the stakes of the rematch.

“Florida State, they have aspirations to play for the College Football Playoff this year and win the ACC. Like for them it is set up to be the year. Jordan Travis is back, Jared Verse is back, number one in returning production in all of college football are the Seminoles,” PicKell said. “So this is their year is what they’re thinking in Tallahassee.”

Florida State’s retention of talent has their fanbase excited and expecting their first ACC title since 2014, but LSU’s hot start in their first season with head coach Brian Kelly at the helm has Tiger fans pumped up as well.

“Now for LSU, going into last season Brian Kelly pulls up, new head coach, a lot of talk about his accent preseason, we all knew that was garbage y’all that were tuned in here,” PicKell joked. “And a lot of LSU fans were told from people like myself hey, this is a get your feet wet kind of year. We were trying to temper expectations and say hey, it might be a build-up-to it kind of year. Like if it doesn’t go your way in 2022, that’s okay, because 2022 isn’t what you hired Brian Kelly for, you hired him for the future.”

Kelly blew expectations out of the water last season as the LSU finished the year 10-4, secured an SEC West title, made an SEC Championship appearance, and had an absolutely dominant win in their bowl game.

“So LSU fans are thinking okay if last year was the warm-up, if last year was the ‘get the feet wet year’, then this year it’s about to be on and popping. Like this year we’re coming for all of it, this year we’re coming to get back to the College Football Playoff,” PicKell said.

It’s safe to say that for the first time in a while, both LSU and Florida State have every right to be excited heading into the 2023 season. And all of the excitement will culminate on September 3 in a primetime matchup at 7:30 p.m. ET airing on ABC that has all the makings of an instant classic.

“So for both fanbases and both teams, they have high expectations. Going to be electric in every sense of the word, I’m fired up for this one. It will have everything that we’re looking for in a big-time college football game Week 1,” PicKell said.