LSU vs. Alabama 2017 live stream: How to watch online

The No. 19 LSU Tigers rebounded from a tough-to-swallow home loss to Troy to beat a pair of ranked rivals in Auburn and Florida and earning a road win over Ole Miss. On Saturday, they’ll have the chance to notch the biggest win of head coach Ed Orgeron’s career. The Tigers will head east to face the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide in a game that could either dash their SEC title hopes or push them into surprising contention. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on CBS (live stream).

LSU has battled through a roller coaster season before regaining its footing as a top-20 program but still may not be prepared for the circled date on any SEC West team’s calendar. Alabama has slayed opponents this fall, beating its five conference foes so far by a combined score of 238-38. If that wasn’t enough, the College Football Playoff committee has given them something to prove.

Despite holding the top spot in both the AP and Coaches’ top 25 polls, the committee ranked the Tide second behind SEC East rival Georgia. That seems like the kind of minor slight Nick Saban would take out on the nearest possible opponent. On Saturday, that’s LSU.

Out of the five undefeated teams, Georgia has the two best wins: at Notre Dame and a blowout of No. 16 Mississippi State. Otherwise, it’s splattered teams with a ruthless defense and with the absolute basics on offense.

Alabama’s best win, unranked Texas A&M, just got rocked at home by that MSU team Georgia owned. Miami tries pretty hard each week to lose. Wisconsin’s played nobody in particular. UCF might have a better case than the Canes or Badgers at the moment, but the committee’s never ranked a non-power higher than No. 13.

First, the bad. Naturally, when hand-picking some choice statistics, Etling comes out smelling like roses. Yes, he’s tied for 2nd in the SEC in Y/A and sits alone in 3rd in passer rating. And yes, he even ranks top 25 nationally in both of those statistics.

But the numbers don’t really paint the picture of the QB that’s played for LSU. Seemingly, Etling’s biggest strength has been his penchant for not making back-breaking mistakes. He won’t kill the offense, but he won’t make many plays either. It’s valuable to have a QB that won’t actively hurt your offense, but trying to push that into complimentary territory is excessive.

Getting healthier, and getting deeper has helped. LSU had multiple players in the defensive front seven suspended for various reasons over the first few games, and other players, particularly nose tackle Ed Alexander and defensive end Rashard Lawrence, battled injuries -- Lawrence was back for the last three, and it’s made a big difference. On offense, I think it’s a matter of freshmen improving. LSU has three playing major roles, with Ed Ingram starting at right guard and Saahdiq Charles starting at left tackle.

This weekend, the Tide are again home against the LSU Tigers, and, like ‘93, the spread is monstrous: ‘Bama opened a 20-point home chalk tonight and that line has moved to -21 within hours. Not only is it the largest point spread in the series since 1993, it’s the first time the Tigers have been a 20+ point underdog in the last 25 years.

No team in the country allows fewer yards per game than the Tide’s 66.4. On Saturday, they’ll face an All-SEC tailback who’s fresh off dismantling Ole Miss for 276 yards. Derrius Guice will face the biggest test of his college career Saturday, and he’ll have to find a way to outdo his previous performance against Alabama. In 2016, he managed only eight yards on two carries in a home loss.

LSU has the talent to hang with Alabama -- at least for a little while. The Tigers will keep things close in the first half before the Crimson Tide’s relentless attack grinds them into dust.