The LSU Tigers (3-0) enter Week 4 of the 2025 college football season with the No. 3 ranking in the AP Poll, and barring a disaster, it’s difficult to see that accolade dropping with Saturday’s game. An in-state clash is on deck at Death Valley against the visiting Southeastern Louisiana Lions (2-1), an FCS program which excels at their own level but faces an uphill climb in a date with one of the nation’s top programs. Fear not, there’s still value for betting cards in this one on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Here’s an LSU vs. Southeastern Louisiana prediction and pick for the Week 4 CFB action.
LSU vs. Southeastern Louisiana prediction, preview
LSU Tigers
As mentioned above, the Tigers hold the No. 3 slot in the AP rankings after winning their first three contests of the season. A 17-10 victory at Clemson kicked things off before a 23-7 win over Louisiana Tech and a 20-10 result over SEC foe Florida last week, the latter two of which came at home in Baton Rouge. While the offense may not be lighting up the scoreboard with just 20.0 points per game thus far and an average of 345.7 yards, the pieces of a potentially great offense are clear. Garrett Nussmeier is a sleeper candidate to win the Heisman Trophy and seems like one of the top quarterbacks in the upcoming NFL Draft while throwing to a pair of talented wideouts in Aaron Anderson (18 REC, 247 YDS) and Barion Brown (15 REC, 145 YDS). With the run game averaging just 3.7 yards per carry, it’d be nice to see someone other than Caden Durham (45 ATT, 196 YDS, 2 TD) absorb more work, but the Tigers have most of what it takes to succeed. That includes a very strong defense that ranks 11th and 25th in the nation with 27.0 points and 260.3 yards allowed per game. They’ve also logged six interceptions and seven sacks in three games, so this defense proves capable of creating big-time plays.
Southeastern Louisiana Lions
SELA, an FCS competitor, enters this contest at 2-1 after winning against Murray State and Mississippi Valley State over the last two weeks. However, the Lions lost 24-0 to Louisiana Tech back in Week 1, a contest which proves quite interesting since LSU downed that same team in the following week. In that contest, Southeastern Louisiana actually out-gained the Bulldogs 273 to 262 on the day while converting nine of 18 third down attempts, but failed to reach the end zone or even kick a single field goal. The Lions also threw two picks and lost a fumble in that game, so perhaps things could’ve ended differently had the turnovers been avoided. Still, that’s a measuring-stick matchup that shows how FCS schools typically fare against their FBS big brothers, and Saturday will certainly play out in even more of a blowout despite the fact that SELA actually does boast one of the better programs at their level, especially in the Southland Conference. The Lions sit 17th in the FCS with 33.7 points per game, as well as 28th in total offense with 396.0 yards on average. They’ve also held opponents to top-14 marks 17.0 points and 272.0 yards per game, but again, even the team itself knows what’ll happen on Saturday.
LSU vs. Southeastern Louisiana pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists LSU as a -38.5 favorite at home on Saturday with total for this game at a combined 51.5 points.
Everyone loves a good underdog story, especially an FCS upset over an FBS team. However, there’s almost no way that type of outcome lies in the cards in Week 4 for SELA. This LSU program hasn’t yet gotten the offense rolling, but it’s still emerged with three wins in three weeks and looks like one of the nation’s top contenders come College Football Playoff time. The talent disparity between these two squads remains absolutely immense, a chasm that will only become more obvious on the field than reading this article. As mentioned above, even the Lions understand exactly what’ll happen — they’ll go into Death Valley, get embarrassed, then head home with a pile of cash for the athletics department as incentive to essentially do cardio in a buy game.
That’s not to disrespect this Southeastern Louisiana program by any means. Southland football has improved in recent years and this program in particular has a long history of success. At their own level, they’re a contender. However, the FCS is an entirely different beast than the FBS, especially when facing an SEC powerhouse like LSU. This feels like an opportunity for the Tigers to finally push their offense into high gear and tune up before their conference slate begins on September 27 against Ole Miss. Watch for Nussmeier and his wideouts to put on a show in the first half and get out to a big lead before LSU goes on to cover in this one.
