No. 5 Alabama is set to put its new top-five status on the line with a tough road trip to face an old rival, squaring off against No. 14 LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge. This is the 91st meeting in the series, which is set to cycle off the SEC schedule in 2027, so look for plenty of extra juice from these two teams looking to land a punch with College Football Playoff implications.
The Crimson Tide’s position at No. 5 in the first CFP Rankings provides a fascinating backdrop for Kalen DeBoer’s squad, as they checked in noticeably higher than their standing in the AP Top 25 poll and the CBS Sports 138 (No. 9 in both) and now appear to have an inside track to making the 12-team bracket if they can win out. Of course, that challenge is made more difficult by the quality of an LSU team that has matched Alabama’s record so far (6-2) and looks to finish strong in Year 1 of the Lane Kiffin era.
For Kiffin, the game also represents a chance to log his first win as a head coach against Alabama, the school where he won a national championship as an offensive coordinator in 2015. He’s 0-5 across stops at Tennessee and Ole Miss, though each of those five meetings were against Nick Saban.
Keep it locked here as CBS Sports provides you with live updates, highlights and analysis as Alabama battles LSU on Saturday.