No. 5 Alabama Looks For Playoff Push, Visits No. 16 LSU
Blake Sims and Alabama will look to get the better of LSU under the lights in Death Valley.
The fate of the Southeastern Conference’s West Division title will be on the line Saturday as No. 5 Alabama makes the journey to Baton Rouge, La., to face No. 16 Louisiana State.
Kickoff at Tiger Stadium is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.
The Crimson Tide will enter Death Valley knowing that anything less than a win could see the side waving goodbye to the division crown and, along with it, a College Football Playoff berth. The Tigers meanwhile will be looking to keep their slim title hopes alive.
The Story So Far
Alabama (7-1, 4-1 SEC) enters Week 11 having climbed to No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The Tide has won three straight since unexpectedly losing to Mississippi in Week 6, albeit against noticeably weaker opposition.
A 59-0 whitewash of then-No.21 Texas A&M was sandwiched by narrow road wins over Arkansas and Tennessee. Facing LSU under the lights represents a much graver challenge than any of those encounters.
Nick Saban will know that his team has little room to maneuver is it’s to earn a playoff berth. Right now, the team’s best win looks like an opening day victory over West Virginia but with LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn still on the docket, the team has the opportunity to stamp its name on the final four ballot, providing it can win that is.
With two losses already, Louisiana State (7-2, 4-2 SEC) is essentially out of the College Football Playoff running, barring some kind of nuclear meltdown in the SEC West.
Still, Les Miles will look to steer his team to three more wins, and then hope that Alabama, Mississippi State and Auburn can all damage each other enough to open up some kind of conference title shot. With losses to the latter two, it would take a football miracle to see LSU in the SEC Championship Game.
The Tigers earned a big win over Mississippi last week, proving the team can thrive in the role of spoiler. Will we be looking at more of the same on Saturday night?
Head-to-Head
Alabama leads the all-time head-to-head series 47-24-5 and is 26-8-3 in road games against Louisiana State.
Things have been closer in recent years though. Since 2000, LSU has gone 9-6 against the Crimson Tide, while the last eight games played in Baton Rouge have seen each team win four.
Alabama enters Saturday’s game having beaten LSU in three straight, including in the BCS Championship Game following the 2011 season.
Alabama defeated LSU 38-17 when these two sides met in Tuscaloosa last season.
Alabama defeated LSU 21-17 the last time the sides met at Tiger Stadium (Nov. 3, 2012).
Injury Report
Alabama is without linebacker Ronnie Clark (Achilles) and running back Kenyan Drake (ankle), both out for the season.
Linebacker Denzel Devall (ankle) is out indefinitely.
LSU’s injury report remains the same, with quarterback Jared Foster (foot), defensive tackle Trey Lealainatafao (arm) and defensive tackle Travonte Valentine (eligibility) all out indefinitely.
Check out the full injury list
Can Travin Dural and the LSU Tigers upset the Crimson Tide on Saturday?
Betting Report
Below you’ll find Betting Sports’ breakdown of odds and betting trends.
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Louisiana State Tigers odds for 11/08/2014
Moneyline: Alabama (-245) opened as the favorite over Louisiana State (+213) on the moneyline and has seen that advantage stretch slightly ahead of kickoff.
Alabama is 2-1 on the road this season while LSU is 5-1 at home.
Alabama is 1-1 against teams ranked in the top 25 on game day, while LSU is 2-1.
Alabama is 1-1 against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25, while LSU is 1-2.
Spread: The spread opened at 6 in favor of Alabama and has subsequently risen to 6.5.
Louisiana State (7-2-0 ATS) has been a beast against the spread this season, posting a 5-1-0 ATS record at home. The same cannot be said for Alabama (2-6-0 ATS), which is 0-4-0 ATS on the road.
Alabama is 5-3-2 ATS in its last 10 games with LSU.
Total: The total opened at 45.5 and has remained constant.
Louisiana State (4-5-0 O/U) has marginally favored the under this season while Alabama (4-4-0 O/U) has split the over/under evenly.
The under has paid out in three of the last four for both Alabama and LSU.
The over/under has been split 4-4-2 in the last 10 head-to-head meetings.
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