Baton Rouge will be the epicenter of the college football landscape this weekend. Saturday, No. 11-ranked Alabama (6-2, 3-2 SEC) will face No. 15 LSU (6-2, 3-1) at Tiger Stadium and the implications are massive.
The regular season is almost over, so both teams are in must-win mode. Alabama was one of the best 12 teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings this week. However, if they lose, their chances of making it to the postseason will be over.
LSU is not in the top rankings right now but if they beat UA they could move up and have a chance at making it to the playoffs.
Alabama Head Coach, Kalen DeBoer expects to see a strong sense of urgency from his players when they step into "Death Valley."
"I like where we're at," DeBoer said during his weekly press conference. Unfortunately, we have less wiggle room, and our backs are to the wall. So, each and every day we're going to bite, scratch and crawl like you've never seen."
Meanwhile LSU Head Coach, Brian Kelly's message to his players is to ignore all the college football playoff talk and focus on playing four good quarters of football Saturday night.
"Look, all that other stuff is out there but it doesn't help us relative to what we need to do," Kelly said. "And I know there's been other national talks about, you know, this is an elimination game. Well, if this is an elimination game, every game in the SEC is an elimination game. Everybody that has a loss, everybody that has two losses, everybody that plays each other, it's an elimination game. So, we can put that to rest. This is really about each team in the SEC knows where they're at right? I mean the record speaks for itself. This is about you need to play your very best when your best is needed."
Both teams are coming off bye weeks but their results entering the bye were quite different.
Alabama took care of business at home back on October 26th defeating No. 24 Missouri, 34-0. But the Crimson Tide have not been able to duplicate similar results on the road during conference play. UA's two losses this the season have come away from Tuscaloosa against Vanderbilt and Tennessee. It's the first time UA has lost multiple games before November since 2007.
On the flip side, LSU lost their Week 9 SEC match up against No.14 Texas A&M, 38-23. The Tigers led the Aggies by 10 points in the third quarter. Texas A&M Quarterback Marcel Reed came off the bench to rush for three second half touchdowns. LSU Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier did not help his team by committing three interceptions after halftime. Nussmeier passed for 405 yards and two touchdowns, but the three interceptions were a career high.
Whoever wins Saturday's pivotal SEC game can enjoy a brief celebration but will still have some work to do in order to reach the postseason. However, the loser is basically eliminated from the playoff picture unless they receive a significant amount of assistance.
Merit Street Media
