Lane Kiffin is already taking aim at the SEC again, this time over the kickoff window for LSU’s next matchup with Alabama.
The conference set the Tigers and Crimson Tide for a 2:30 p.m. CT start next Saturday, a choice that strips away one of LSU’s biggest advantages: the full-force night-game setting in Death Valley. Kiffin didn’t hide his irritation when asked about it during Wednesday’s teleconference, and he also pointed back to the tension between his program and the league after an early-season fight over player eligibility.
“If someone thinks the SEC wants us to win this year after what's been going on, they must've just been on Mars the last four months," said Kiffin during Wednesday's teleconference.
The timing matters because LSU-Alabama is one of the SEC’s defining rivalries, and Tiger Stadium at night is usually the kind of place that makes life miserable for visitors. These two teams have faced off 90 times, dating back to 1895, when LSU beat Alabama 12-6.
But the history has tilted heavily the other way. Alabama leads the series 58-27-5, and the Tide have won six of the last seven meetings. For LSU, this is the kind of game that has felt like a chance to answer back for a while now.
Still, the daylight kickoff may not change as much as LSU would like. Alabama has gone into Tiger Stadium for the last three trips and handled the atmosphere each time, even with 102,321 fans trying to drown them out. In fact, the Tide have lost only once in Baton Rouge since 2010, and that came in 2022 in overtime, when LSU escaped on a two-point conversion and won by a single point.
So while the SEC’s kickoff decision clearly didn’t sit well with Kiffin, the numbers suggest Alabama has already proven it can survive the noise in Death Valley - even when the lights are on and the place is at its loudest.
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LSUs Bye Week Still Carries Real Playoff Pressure
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