LSU and Alabama will renew their annual meeting on Saturday, Nov. 7, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. on ABC in Tiger Stadium.
It will be a daytime start for a rivalry that has usually belonged to the night lately. The last six LSU-Alabama games have kicked off after dark, but this one gets an afternoon slot. By the time the fourth quarter rolls around, daylight will be slipping away in Baton Rouge, with Daylight Savings Time ending Sunday at 2 a.m. when clocks fall back to 1 a.m.
This year’s matchup comes with both teams sitting at 6-2 and on a bye this week. No.
15 LSU is 3-2 in the SEC, while No. 10 Alabama is 4-2.
The matchup also lands in a strange spot on the calendar, because it will be the last LSU-Alabama game for a while. The teams will not play in 2027 after SEC scheduling changes that were made before this season. The league is moving to nine conference games in 2026, and LSU’s new permanent opponents in the first four-year rotation are Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
That shift breaks a run that had lasted since 1964, with LSU and Alabama facing each other every season. The programs did not meet from 1959 through 1963.
LSU will go to Alabama in 2028, then there will be no game in 2029. The second four-year rotation starts in 2030, but the schedule could still change before then, so the next meeting after 2028 has not been set.
Alabama holds the edge in the series, 58-27-5. The Crimson Tide are 30-10-2 against LSU in Baton Rouge, 16-10 in Tuscaloosa, 8-5-1 in Birmingham and 4-2-2 at other sites, including Mobile, Montgomery and New Orleans.
The Tide have also had the upper hand recently at Tiger Stadium, winning three straight there and six of the last seven.
Elsewhere in the SEC on Nov. 7, Texas plays at Missouri at 11 a.m. on ABC or ESPN, Arkansas visits Auburn at 11:45 a.m. on SEC Network, Texas A&M is at South Carolina at 2 p.m. on ESPN, Vanderbilt plays at Mississippi State at 3:15 p.m. on ESPN, Kentucky travels to Tennessee at 5:15 p.m. on ESPN, Georgia goes to Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. on ABC and Oklahoma visits Florida at 6:45 p.m. on SEC Network.
In Other News...
LSU Awaits Huge Recruiting Test As Tension Builds Around Will Wade
The next major recruiting swing for LSU basketball arrives Thursday, when five-star 2027 guard Reese Alston is expected to make his college decision. The Tigers are in the mix alongside Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee and Wichita State, giving LSU a real chance to land one of the most coveted young guards in the country and add another high-end name to its future backcourt plans.
Reese Alstons recruitment, though, has carried an extra layer of intrigue because of the public comments from his father, former NBA guard Rafer Alston, about LSU coach Will Wade. With those tensions hanging over the process, the Tigers are waiting to see whether the appeal of the program outweighs the noise around it, and Thursday should provide a clear answer on just how strong LSUs position really is. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Heads Into Alabama Week With One Big Edge And One Concern
The bye week gives LSU a little breathing room before Alabama comes to Baton Rouge on November 7, and the early read from the oddsmakers says the Tigers have earned some respect. Vegas has LSU favored by 3.5 points with a total of 52.5, which reflects how competitive this matchup is expected to be and how much this game could hinge on which version of LSU shows up after a week off.
Health, though, remains the lingering question. LSU has spent much of the season managing injuries, and while some players are making their way back, others are still uncertain for the Alabama game. For a team heading into one of the most important weeks on the schedule, that mix of improvement and uncertainty may end up mattering as much as the line on the board. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Playoff Hope Now Comes Down To A Brutal SEC Debate
The playoff math around LSU is already getting weird in the kind of way that tends to happen when the SEC starts beating itself up. FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt floated a scenario in which the Tigers could still reach the 2026 College Football Playoff even with three losses, comparing the seasons volatility to 2007 and pointing to a path where November changes everything. In his view, LSU would handle Alabama and Tennessee, while Kentucky would stumble twice, leaving the Tigers positioned to slide into the No. 11 seed.
What makes the discussion even trickier is how much the selection process may end up rewarding timing as much as record. If LSUs losses come early and its best head-to-head results land late, the Tigers could be judged very differently than another team with the same number in the loss column. It is the sort of SEC debate that can feel absurd in September and absolutely central by the time the bracket is drawn. [Read more 🡒]