BATON ROUGE — It’s clich?, but “It all comes down to this.” LSU and Auburn meet tonight at 6:45 on ESPN in what will be the most meaningful football game in Tiger Stadium in more than 25 years.
With a victory, LSU (7-3, 4-3 SEC) would advance to its first SEC Championship game, to be held on Dec. 8 in Atlanta. Likewise for Auburn (7-3, 5-2).
The Tigers — from Baton Rouge, that is — are riding a three-game win streak dating back to a loss to Ole Miss in Tiger Stadium. Last time out, LSU allowed the most points in a regulation victory in school history while beating Arkansas, 41-38, in a day-after-Thanksgiving thriller.
On the other side, the Tigers — from the Plains of Auburn — have lost two of three including an embarrassing, 31-7, loss to Alabama last week in the Iron Bowl when the Tide rolled off 24 unanswered points after breaking a 7-7 tie in the second quarter.
Auburn is two play from losing four straight. If it wasn’t for a decision to rush the ball by Georgia on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 16 seconds remaining in the game and no timeouts, Auburn may not have defeated Georgia two weeks ago in Athens. Two weeks before that, the Tigers had to hold off Louisiana Tech’s late comeback to win 48-41 in overtime.
But tonight’s game will not be about the past few weeks. It’ll be about the future of two teams that could use this game to boost themselves all the way into the Bowl Championship Series and the Sugar Bowl. For starters, the winner advances to face the Florida-Tennessee winner in the SEC Championship game.
Listen to the pregame show live at 5:15 p.m., followed by the “Voice of the Tigers” Jim Hawthorne and color analyst Doug Moreau for kickoff at 6:45. Also, follow live stats right here on LSUsports.net and check back at halftime and after the game for the complete story, quotes, notes, etc.
Fans going to the game are advised to arrive early and avoid traffic. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not will be shooting an amazing stunt in Tiger Stadium at 5 p.m. and all ticket holders are invited to watch.