By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Playing Alabama this century has undeniably become LSU’s biggest game, and often, the game of the year in the Southeastern Conference. A couple of times, it’s been college football’s pinnacle pairing, No. 1 vs. No. 2.
When the SEC announced a 2:30 kickoff last week for this Saturday’s matchup, first-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin said he was “shocked” the game was not being played in prime time for the first time since 2019 – when LSU’s Joe Burrow-led national champions won 46-41 at Alabama in one of those 1-2 collisions.
While this isn’t a top 10 battle, it undeniably is a crucial contest for both teams’ College Football Playoff hopes. The 15th-ranked Tigers (6-2 overall, 3-2 SEC) begin a three-week stretch against ranked teams – No. 9 ‘Bama (6-2, 4-2), followed by 10th-ranked Texas and No. 16 Tennessee. The Crimson Tide won’t play another ranked team after LSU, unless they reach the SEC Championship Game.
Saturday’s survivor will keep contender’s status for one of the 12 playoff spots. The loser will be on the brink of falling into a second-tier bowl assignment.
Tonight, the CFP unveils its first top 25 rankings on ESPN at 6 o’clock, sure to spike speculation about the credentials or lack thereof for the Tigers, Tide and other teams with two or three losses entering November.
Making the CFP and driving toward a national title is why the Tigers have gone all-in with Kiffin ($13 million annual salary) and a player payroll reportedly nearing $50 million for 2026.
Monday, the LSU coach said he doesn’t discuss his team’s CFP status with the players, and barely acknowledged it during his weekly media session.
“We don’t even talk about that. It’s going to move so much between now and the end of the year,” he said. “So, play really well and win and you won’t have anything to worry about.”
But the Tigers do have worries, because of their lamentable 35-34 overtime loss last month at Kentucky (7-1, 5-1), which had been drubbed 45-17 by Alabama in Week 2 but hasn’t lost since then.
Kiffin embraces playing games to remember in November, staring at the three-game stretch ahead and its potential rewards, but knows while his team is peaking after convincing wins over Mississippi State and Auburn, it sits on the CFP brink.
“I’m glad that’s where we are right now,” he said. “We should be even in better position. And you guys know the game that haunts that … so it is what it is, and less margin for error than we would have (had).”
Along with being played at Tiger Stadium in daylight for the first time in eight meetings, Saturday’s game will extend a series of annual collisions each year since 1964. But that pauses next year, thanks to the SEC’s new nine-game scheduling model. The teams – who have staged six top five matchups and eight top 10 matchups in the first two decades of the century — will meet only once in the next three years, at Alabama in 2028.
“I think that’s just sad,” Kiffin said. “Not a criticism, but all decisions come down to money. But it’s all sad in the big picture of things. A lot of people wish things were like they were. But it’s where we are.”
Kiffin didn’t offer any injury updates Monday, despite reports that team captain Whit Weeks, the signalcaller on the LSU defense, could resume practice and play Saturday for the first time since fracturing his leg against Texas A&M Sept. 26 and having surgery.
His status will probably remain shrouded until Saturday afternoon’s ABC-televised contest.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com