Lane Kiffin Urges LSU Fans to Start Drinking Earlier for 2:30 p.m. Alabama Game

Q: With the SEC abandoning annual traditions, could the loser of this high-stakes daytime clash miss the playoff entirely?

Yes. In practical terms, the loser of Alabama-LSU would be in serious danger of missing the 12-team College Football Playoff. Both teams are 6-2 entering the game, so the loser would fall to 6-3 with little margin left. In the SEC’s new no-division, nine-game format, that is far more damaging than it once was: there are fewer annual rivalry anchors, more rotating high-level opponents, and less room to recover in the standings. Kiffin’s larger point about tradition giving way to TV and conference demands is separate from the playoff math, but the new structure does make each loss more costly. The committee’s process still leans heavily on strength of schedule, quality wins, head-to-head results and overall résumé. A three-loss SEC team is not automatically eliminated, especially in a 12-team field, but it usually needs a strong closing run and multiple ranked wins. The loser here would likely need help elsewhere and would almost certainly lose control of its path. LSU’s road looks especially difficult if it loses, because it still has Texas and Tennessee on the schedule. Alabama’s path would also tighten sharply, though its remaining slate appears more manageable after LSU. Either way, a third loss would likely remove any realistic shot at an SEC title berth and shift that team from contender to at-large long shot. So while elimination would not be official on Saturday afternoon, it could be close to a playoff knockout blow for the loser.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Nov 3

Kiffin told LSU fans to shift their routines forward for Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. local kickoff against Alabama, joking that they should “start drinking earlier” to recreate Death Valley’s usual night-game edge.
The LSU coach said crowd noise at Tennessee’s 2:30 p.m. game visibly disrupted Alabama’s offense and argued the same effect could help the Tigers in Baton Rouge.
Both LSU and Alabama enter the game 6-2, making the matchup a major College Football Playoff test in which the loser would face a much tougher path back into contention.
Kiffin also lamented that this season ends a 63-year run of annual Alabama-LSU meetings, blaming money, TV contracts and SEC scheduling changes for weakening traditional rivalries.