LSU football has a de facto playoff game this weekend when it takes on Alabama in a huge SEC showdown on Saturday night in Baton Rouge. This game will renew one of the best rivalries in college football, and the two have played some instant classics in recent years.
Ahead of the big game, LSU got some good news on the injury front. Wide receiver CJ Daniels, whose status has been up in the air throughout the week because of an injury, is trending towards being available on Saturday, according to Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports.
There’s continued optimism that LSU receiver CJ Daniels, who has been listed as questionable this week due to an injury, will end up being available vs. Alabama tomorrow, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports,” Zenitz reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Daniels has 29 catches in the 6.5 games he’s played in this season.”
Having Daniels back in the lineup would be great news for Garrett Nussmeier and this LSU passing game. Daniels had seven catches for 86 yards in a win over Arkansas on Oct. 19. He was one of the top pickups in the transfer portal for Brian Kelly and the Tigers after a 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown season in 2023.
LSU in must-win situation against Alabama
LSU absolutely has to win against Alabama on Saturday night, as the loser will be unofficially eliminated from both the SEC title race and the push for one of the 12 spots in the College Football Playoff.
The Tigers lost all of their margin for error on Oct. 26 when they were blown out in the second half on the road against Texas A&M. That loss to the Aggies was LSU's second of the season after a neutral-site loss to USC in the season opener that has aged very poorly after the Trojans' season has spiraled out of control.
LSU is still in the thick of the conference race, but it likely cannot afford another loss the rest of the way if it wants to reach the championship game in Atlanta. There are currently five teams with just one loss in SEC play: LSU, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and Texas A&M, with Alabama close behind with just two losses. LSU still has four games to finish up conference play, but they are all winnable contests (against Florida, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma).
However, if Kelly and the Tigers were to take a second loss, they would be relying on a lot of chaos around the rest of the conference in order to earn a shot at the SEC Championship. It's fairly unlikely that four of the five one-loss teams will take another loss in conference play, and LSU would be relying on tiebreakers even if they do.
As for the playoff, it doesn't look like a three-loss team is going to make the field due to the strength of the SEC and the Big 10 at the moment. Those two conferences will probably produce a handful of one- or two-loss teams that will take up most of the at-large spots. Bottom line, LSU has to show up and get a win on Saturday night to keep its goals alive.
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