Jeff Hanisch – USA Today Sports

College football’s game of the year will take place Saturday night at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Alabama and LSU face off via ABC at 6:30 p.m. CT in “Death Valley.” This game has critical implications for the College Football Playoff, as the loser of the game has no hope of making the 12-team dance. Paul Finebaum, an ESPN personality, called the Alabama-LSU game “the first playoff eliminator.” The game has always had conference championship implications, national championship implications, Heisman implications, NFL Draft implications, and CFP implications, and that hasn’t changed.

Former Alabama star LB Reuben Foster talks about the importance of that Crimson Tide vs. LSU game

Finebaum chose Jalen Milroe over Garrett Nussmeier and said LSU would travel to Alabama.

He said the loser of the competition had “really almost no path back” to the playoffs.

“It’s the biggest game of the year in college football. Not because they’re the two best teams, but it’s the first playoff of the playoffs. The loser has virtually no way of going back.

—@finebaum on what Alabama and LSU have at stake in their matchup pic.twitter.com/U6eA4BX7MD

– GetUp (@GetUpESPN) November 8, 2024

We’ll see who carries the most intensity throughout the game between the Crimson Tide and Tigers.

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Stephen M. Smith is the senior editor of Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can like it on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.

Stephen Smith graduated in 2015 from the University of Alabama. He is an editor and senior reporter for Touchdown Alabama magazine. He has covered Alabama football for 15 years and his knowledge and coverage of the Crimson Tide program has made him one of the most respected journalists in his field. Smith has been featured on ESPN and several other high-profile media outlets as an analyst.