BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The annual Alabama-LSU rivalry is included in Exhibit A, which shows how this weekend’s expanded College Football Playoff changes the high-stakes game in November.

Both teams have two losses and neither are in the top 10. AP Top 25However, the winner of Saturday night’s game at Tiger Stadium will remain on track to become one of 12 teams competing for the national championship in January.

“We’re in the thick of it,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “There’s so much football to be played that the first (CFP) seeding is just horses coming into the gates.

“It would be nice to be No. 1 on the home circuit, but we definitely have a lot of racing ahead of us,” Kelly continued. “Now you have to play well in the remaining four weeks of the season.”

No. 14 LSU (6-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference, No. 15 CFP) didn’t play well in the second half of its previous game at Texas A&M on October 26. The Tigers led 17-7 at halftime and left College Station with a 38-23 loss.

The No. 11 Crimson Tide (6-2, 3-2 SEC, No. 11 CFP) stumbled a bit early in the season at Vanderbilt and Tennessee, but bounced back with a strong rebound two weeks ago. 34-0 demolition of Missouri.

“I think you saw our reaction in the Missouri game,” first-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “It’s just more back-to-the-wall experience that you go through together. Different teams have different things that they respond to well.”

As usual, both teams had byes in the week leading up to their traditional early November matchup, giving them a chance to get a little healthier and better prepared for what was going to be one of both teams’ biggest matchups in a long time.

Milroe vs. LSU

This was perhaps the first game in which the college football world realized how dangerous Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was as a runner. Milroe rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns Last season against LSU 219 yards passing.

Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed threw three touchdown passes against LSU’s defense, and Milroe introduced another quarterback who could run.

“It’s very difficult for any defense to challenge that,” Milroe said. “It’s very difficult for any defense to stop the passing and running element.”

Riding the “nuss bus”

Playing the never-easy role of successor to the Heisman Trophy-winning QB, Junior QB Garrett Nussmeier spent most of the season on a promising, upward trajectory until the second half of his previous game. Had three second-half interceptions in LSU territory at Texas A&M; this was a major factor in the Tigers’ stunning collapse against the Aggies.

Despite this, he still ranks 2nd in the SEC and 8th nationally in TD passes with 20. His passing rate per game is second in the league and fifth in the nation with 328.4 yards per game.

“He’s a ram’s kid; You can tell he’s very well coached,” Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said, referring to the fact that the LSU QB’s father is former NFL QB and current Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier.

“He’s as good as we’ve seen this year, aggressive with the ball,” Wommack said. “I know that got him into trouble sometimes, but he also created a lot of explosive plays.”

Road Bama

Alabama has lost its last two road games. at Vanderbilt And in tennessee. A common denominator: The enemy starts slow in front of the crowd. The Commodores scored twice in the first seven minutes, including a pick six. It wasn’t that bad in Knoxville, but Alabama had two punts and an interception on its first three offensive series.

“You can’t put a hole in yourself, you can’t give the opponent momentum, especially in an environment like we’re going to see at LSU,” DeBoer said. “So the situation is critical. “We announce this every day.”

no nick

The presence of Nick Saban, who coached LSU’s 2003 team to a national championship, on Alabama’s sideline from 2007 to 2023 has added an extra juicy layer to this already storied rivalry.

Even though Saban now retiredKelly suggested his impact on Alabama, where he won six national championships, continues this year and remains a factor.

“This football team still looks like coach Saban’s building blocks,” Kelly said. “Kalen takes over a program that was in very good shape, right? So a lot of the foundations are still there and it’s definitely a very talented team.

“So there’s still a sense that there’s a man behind the curtain,” Kelly said. “You feel that in terms of the overall program.”

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AP Sports Writer John Zenor contributed to this report.

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