On Monday, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron was brutally honest about the goal for a Tigers’ program -- “I know that the LSU head coach has to beat Alabama.” And, for Alabama, this is the physical testing ground: standing toe to toe with the only team in the country that can match them physically.
Ole Miss may be a more loathed rivalry for LSU, and the Auburn-LSU hate is long-standing, but, for over a century, the Tigers have had one goal: to meet or exceed the standard of Alabama football (and beat them in everything else possible.) And, for the Tide, the LSU series has been a hard-hitting proving ground though some times lacking the animus of Tennessee or Auburn.