One team will be hoping for a spot in the Citrus Bowl and all the accompanying Cheez-its that said berth would guarantee.
And ... that's about it.
The loser of the Alabama-LSU tilt Saturday night in Baton Rouge's Death Valley becomes a three-loss team with no discernible path to the College Football Playoff, 12 teams or not.
Two years ago, in Brian Kelly's first season at LSU, the Tigers found a way to topple Nick Saban's penultimate Tide team on a late score. It sent LSU to the SEC Championship game as the Western Division's top team.
The SEC no longer has divisions, and the loser of this game will be left staring at quite the logjam of teams in front of it -- both in SEC standings and CFP rankings.
An LSU loss would be the team's third of the season but only a second in SEC play; the Tide already have been swept out of the Volunteer State, first by Vanderbilt and, late last month at Tennessee.
Elsewhere, if Ole Miss cannot protect what's expected to be its damp turf inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, then Lane Kiffin's most talented-ever team -- maybe more talented than his Oakland Raiders NFL squads, arguably more expensive -- likewise can only aspire to be a Citrus Bowl invitee.
That's the best postseason destination any SEC team not involved in the CFP can attain.
The Rebels host SEC leader and CFP No. 3 team Georgia, which has looked mortal much of this season but owns a dominant win at then-No. 1 Texas.
The Bulldogs also are coming off of a closer-than-expected win last week against Florida.
Kirby Smart teams typically respond bigly in these environments.
In Big 12 Country, it's the Holy War pitting undefeated and current CFP No. 4 seed BYU at a 4-4 Utah team that hasn't won a conference game in two months!
The Cougars, as Zach Barnett has noted, have not won at Utah since 2006, but this is a mature, veteran group bent on atoning for last year's disappointment while the Utes continue to play solid defense that's betrayed by an absolutely anemic offense.
Which team or teams do Team FootballScoop have on upset-alert this weekend? What's the best atmosphere in college football?
Dive in for all this information and plenty more:
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