LSU moved back into the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank on Sunday at No. 18. The Tigers and No. 6 Crimson Tide are off next week, as is customary before the SEC West powers play each other.
This will be the 30th time Alabama and LSU will face off with both ranked, the most of any Southeastern Conference teams and the fourth-most among all rivalries, according to sports-reference.com.
Michigan and Ohio State have 47 ranked matchups. Texas and Oklahoma have 42. Notre Dame and Southern California have 33. Six other SEC rivalries are in the 20s, including Tennessee-Florida and LSU-Florida at 25 apiece.
For most of the 2000s, Alabama and LSU were arguably the dominant rivalry in college football. They went to 14 straight meetings (2007-19), playing with both ranked. That is the third longest streak in any rivalry, behind Florida-Tennessee’s 19 in a row (1985-2007) and Florida-Florida State’s 16 straight (1990-2003).
The run ended in 2020 for Alabama and LSU, the year after the Tigers and Tide played a 1 vs. 2 game in Tuscaloosa.
On Nov. 5, they can start another streak.
Reality Check signs off on LSU vaulting back into the rankings. With eight ranked teams off last week, there was limited movement elsewhere in the rankings, but Reality Check still had a few complaints.
