No. 5 Alabama heads into Baton Rouge with its new playoff position hanging in the balance, and the Crimson Tide won’t get a soft landing.
They’ll face No. 14 LSU on Saturday in a rivalry game that still carries plenty of weight, especially with College Football Playoff implications attached.
This is the 91st meeting between the programs, and with the series scheduled to cycle off the SEC slate in 2027, the matchup has a little extra edge to it. Alabama enters at 6-2, the same record LSU owns, and both teams have plenty to play for as the season tightens.
The Crimson Tide’s spot at No. 5 in the first CFP Rankings is a major storyline around this one. Kalen DeBoer’s team landed higher there than it did in the AP Top 25 and the CBS Sports 138, where it sat at No. 9 in both. That ranking gives Alabama a clearer path to the 12-team bracket if it can keep winning, but the road gets tougher immediately against an LSU team that has matched its record and is trying to close strong in Year 1 of the Lane Kiffin era.
Kiffin also has a personal piece of history tied to the night. He’s still looking for his first win as a head coach against Alabama, the school where he won a national championship as offensive coordinator in 2015. Across stops at Tennessee and Ole Miss, he’s 0-5 against the Crimson Tide, though all five of those games came against Nick Saban.
Keep it locked here as CBS Sports provides live updates, highlights and analysis throughout Alabama-LSU on Saturday.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Faces Huge Georgia Test With One Big Complication
Saturday night in Oxford already had the feel of a measuring-stick moment, and ESPNs Kirk Herbstreit only sharpened the focus by naming Georgia at Ole Miss as the Week 10 college football game to watch. The matchup brings together a No. 2 Bulldogs team and a No. 10 Rebels squad that has been tough to beat at home, riding a 16-game winning streak inside its own stadium.
The timing, though, comes with a major wrinkle for Ole Miss. The Rebels are set to take the field at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC without All-America running back Kewan Lacy because of injury, leaving a huge hole in a game that already demanded near-perfect execution. Against a Georgia defense and a playoff-level opponent, how Ole Miss adjusts in the backfield may end up being every bit as important as the atmosphere in the stadium. [Read more 🡒]
College GameDay Just Handed Kentucky Fans A Tennessee Debate
Week 10s College GameDay chatter has already spilled into the kind of conversation SEC fans love to have, with several commentators and the guest picker weighing in on a full slate that includes Ohio State, Minnesota, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Utah and Notre Dame. The picks come with the usual mix of logic and gut feel, from defense and home-field edge to the impact of missing players, giving the segment the familiar feel of a Saturday morning debate rather than anything close to a settled forecast.
For Kentucky fans, though, the Tennessee pick is the one that tends to linger, because any national discussion involving the Vols has a way of circling back to the SEC race and the ripple effects around the league. The predictions are only opinions, of course, but they still add another layer to a weekend already loaded with pressure points, and they leave just enough room for fans to argue over which side of the Tennessee discussion deserves the benefit of the doubt. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Faces A Playoff Swing Game That Could Change Everything
Several of the weekends biggest games carry more than rivalry weight, and the ripple effects could reach well beyond the teams on the field. BYUs meeting with Utah has Big 12 implications, Alabamas trip to LSU is the kind of matchup the College Football Playoff selection committee will study closely, and Ohio State against Oregon is another high-end test with bracket consequences attached.
For Ole Miss, the broader picture matters because the Rebels are watching the same crowded playoff race from the SEC side, where every result among the contenders can reshape the conversation. Kentucky-Tennessee and Miamis trip to Notre Dame without wide receiver Malachi Toney only add to a slate that could alter how the committee sorts out the top teams when the dust settles. [Read more 🡒]