BATON ROUGE — No. 14 LSU hosts No. 5 Alabama on Saturday in what both coaches framed Monday as a must-play-well November showdown — and the last annual meeting in a rivalry that has run every year since 1964.
Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT at Tiger Stadium on ABC. The Tigers are 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the SEC after beating Auburn; the Crimson Tide are 6-2 and 4-2 after beating Texas A&M. Both sides used an open week to get healthy and game-plan. In the first College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, Alabama checked in at No. 5 and LSU at No. 14.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin did not dance around the opponent. He called Alabama the most talented team the Tigers have faced so far when you line up all 22 starters, not just the quarterback.
“We’ve got to make sure that we perform really well against a really good team that’s coached really well and has really good players,” Kiffin said Monday. “You see them, and they look like old Alabama teams as far as their size and length and explosiveness, the skill positions on offense and the quarterback. We’re going to have to play really well because I do think this is the most talented team that we’ve played so far when you take the 22, not just the quarterback.”
Kiffin singled out Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell as the biggest problem to solve.
“They’ve got really great players on offense. The quarterback has played awesome this year and is a problem because he can run the ball and is an elite thrower,” Kiffin said. “They ran into two great defenses, but they’re really well coached and have great schemes.”
On the other side of the rivalry, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer opened his Monday presser by praising how quickly Kiffin has pulled LSU together — and by stacking the challenge of a road trip to Death Valley.
“We’ve got a very good LSU team, as you know, and Coach Kiffin’s done a great job bringing a lot of new faces together in a short amount of time,” DeBoer said. “You see them continue to improve. Top 10 offense, top 10 defense. Very explosive in all ways. So, obviously going on the road, that’ll be a challenge as well, and so, one that I know our guys are excited about and looking forward to.”
DeBoer put the run game at the center of Alabama’s plan, tying it to helping Russell and keeping LSU’s offense on the sideline in a hostile environment.
“It’ll be very important for us to execute. Everyone doing their job, being on the same page, and that helps Keelon out, grabbing some momentum, staying on the football field,” DeBoer said. “Keeps their offense off the field as well. So, it all plays into doing what it takes to win there. … The run game will be a very strong part of that.”
The early kickoff has been a talking point all week. It will be the first daytime LSU-Alabama kickoff in Tiger Stadium since 2010. Kiffin urged Tiger Stadium to chase the noise record Tennessee set against Alabama on a 2:30 kick.
“Tennessee supposedly set the noise record against Alabama, which you can see in that game effecting Alabama’s offense,” Kiffin said. “That was a 2:30 central kick. Let’s break the record.”
His advice to fans used to night games was blunt: move the whole routine up.
“If you are used to 6:30, four hours earlier, start your day earlier. Have breakfast earlier. Start drinking earlier, whatever is your routine, just move it up. Go to bed earlier Friday night.”
DeBoer, asked whether the early start favored the Tide on the road, shrugged it off.
“I feel like we’re on the road, so I’d rather play at home if we want to have all these advantages,” DeBoer said. “But with the earlier kick … I don’t get to choose that. It is what it is. We just got to show up and play.”
Kiffin also called the end of the annual series “sad,” even as he said he understood the scheduling math. Alabama leads the all-time series 58-27-5 and has won the last three meetings, including a 42-13 win in Baton Rouge in 2024 and a 20-9 win in Tuscaloosa last November. The programs are not scheduled to meet in 2027; the series resumes in Tuscaloosa in 2028.
Playoff positioning hangs over both locker rooms, but Kiffin kept his players pointed at Saturday only.
“We don’t even talk about that. It’s going to move so much between now and the end of the year,” Kiffin said of the College Football Playoff rankings. “So, play really well and win and you won’t have anything to worry about.”
No. 14 LSU vs. No. 5 Alabama is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC from Tiger Stadium.
