It's finally here. Alabama-LSU is the game that we here at CBS are lucky enough to circle every year as the highlight of our college football season. Five times since 2007, this game has produced the national champion. It's the most exciting rivalry in college football's best division played in one of the sport's best venues: under the lights in Tigers Stadium.

The best games in the series have been played in Baton Rouge, Louisiana -- overtimes, Les Miles eating grass, the best fake field goal calls have all gone down in Baton Rouge in recent years. You can't "throw the record books out," but you get the idea that the environment and energy in Tiger Stadium sets up for something special.

Alabama storyline: The Tide have three notable tests between now and Selection Sunday, starting with Saturday night's contest in Baton Rouge. Every year since 2008, Alabama has entered this game controlling its own title future and Saturday is no different. If Alabama wins this game, defends home turf against Auburn in the Iron Bowl and defeats the SEC East champion in Atlanta, it's back in the College Football Playoff. So style points aren't really an issue for Nick Saban this November, just wins. That's good news because history says these Baton Rouge contests are going to be tight and low-scoring.

Since LSU is one of the few teams in college football that can match Alabama's size, speed and physicality, the key for the Tide will be freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts minimizing the impact of mistakes against a feisty Tigers defense that will pumped up in front the well-prepared Death Valley crowd. Saban has a plan to beat LSU in a plodding manner that doesn't involve giving Danny Etling short fields, or even worse, giving LSU free points directly off turnovers.

LSU storyline: Ed Orgeron has LSU undefeated since taking over as interim coach, but a win here not only makes the Tigers a player in the SEC West title race but ends program's the five-game skid in the series. No one on this LSU roster has beaten Alabama, so if Coach O can get them up for taking down the title-bound Tide, it's going to be more than a feather in his cap; it's going to be enough to argue that he gets the job on a full-time basis.

But the complexities of the relationship between Orgeron, the football program and the administration aren't going to have a direct impact on the outcome of this game quite like Leonard Fournette. For two years, Fournette has been bottled up by Alabama's defensive front in this game. Now that Alabama's defensive front is a little bit lighter than usual, Fournette and that Tigers offensive front may -- repeat, may -- have a chance to get a push that wasn't there in years past.

Prediction: There are a couple places where this game, particularly against the number, will be decided. If LSU can create points off of Alabama turnovers twice, scoring at least one touchdown, it will probably cover and definitely have a chance to win. Even if LSU doesn't get any points off turnovers, it can still be in position to cover and possibly win as long as it doesn't give up any turnovers of its own that lead to points.

There's no margin for error. LSU needs breaks to cover this spread and needs damn near every break to pull off the win. The Tigers may be one of the only teams in the country that can match the talent and physicality of the Tide in the trenches, but do they have the depth to withstand four quarters of that Alabama rushing attack? This will be a slow, close game that gets broken open late in a 10-14 point win for the Tide. Pick: Alabama -7.5

No. 1 Alabama at No. 13 LSU, 8 p.m. ET, CBS
Line
Alabama -7.5