Alabama wins it, LSU blows it, and CFP committee flexes visionary rankings

Alabama wins it, LSU blows it, and CFP committee flexes visionary rankings Alabama discovered ways to win.

Key points

• Keelon Russell outplayed Sam Leavitt, and, in the understatement of the night, Kalen DeBoer outcoached Lane Kiffin.
• Look, Alabama still sometimes looks incomplete – LSU plowed through the Tide defense for 457 yards – but who isn't a little messy in this upside-down season?
• Since he's now 0-6 against Alabama while the coach of three different SEC schools, it's as if Kiffin knew what was coming, and, maybe he did.
• Lane Kiffin still can't beat Alabama, no matter what SEC team he coaches.
• BATON ROUGE, LA – We called the 13 committee members who assemble the College Football Playoff rankings everything short of dunderheads and dolts after they stuck a No.

Alabama wins it, LSU blows it, and CFP committee flexes visionary rankings Alabama discovered ways to win. LSU discovered ways to lose. The Crimson Tide lived up to their ranking. Lane Kiffin's debut is swirling drain. Blake Toppmeyer USA TODAY. Lane Kiffin: 'Really disappointing' fourth quarter in LSU loss to Alabama.

Lane Kiffin assesses LSU's 31-13 loss to Alabama. The fourth quarter obtained away from LSU in a hurry. Alabama vindicated CFP committee with this win at LSU.

Keelon Russell demonstrates nerves of steel. He makes the major plays that veteran Sam Leavitt couldn't produce for LSU.

BATON ROUGE, LA – We called the 13 committee members who assemble the College Football Playoff rankings everything short of dunderheads and dolts after they stuck a No. 5 next to Alabama's name. Well, seems a correction is in order. Call those committee members visionaries. Prescient. Avant-garde. Or, maybe this was just a lucky toss of the dart. CFP rankings live predictions: UCLA moves up, so who moves down?

Anyway, they saw something in the Crimson Tide the rest of us apparently couldn't detect, and Alabama lived up to the respect in a 31-13 thrashing of LSU inside one of college football's most hostile venues. What shall we call Alabama now?

Yes, seriously. Don't be surprised when Alabama ascends in the next playoff rankings.

If the committee loved the Tide before, they'll tingle with enthusiasm for 'em now that they've continued a win against LSU, ranked No. 14 in the first playoff rankings.

Road wins of this caliber are tough to come by in the SEC, but Alabama's obtained two. It'll hang this pelt alongside its win at Kentucky, the only UK loss in the season's first two months.

Look, Alabama still sometimes looks incomplete – LSU plowed through the Tide defense for 457 yards – but who isn't a little messy in this upside-down season? Alabama discovered ways to win. LSU discovered ways to lose.

As the fourth quarter progressed, a rout had replaced what for three quarters had been a tense game. "Really disappointing end to the game, " Lane Kiffin remarked.

Keelon Russell outplayed Sam Leavitt, and, in the understatement of the night, Kalen DeBoer outcoached Lane Kiffin. Alabama is sitting pretty. LSU faces peril. Alabama makes winning plays. LSU makes losing plays.

LSU is left to regret a bundle of missed opportunities and wasted momentum. LSU missed a field goal, then twice failed to convert fourth downs while inside field-goal range. Leavitt killed another promising drive with an awful interception thrown into a thicket of defenders.

Even as the wasted opportunities piled up, the Tigers took their first lead late in the third quarter, and the band played that NSFW song "Neck" that LSU fans love, and this place revved up to such a decibel level that you could appreciate its reputation for being one of the best home-field advantages in the nation. None of it rattled Russell. Alabama's quarterback indicated he's one cool cat.

With the crowd roaring, he tossed a 57-yard strike to Rico Scott. LSU fans took a breath for air, then hollered as loud as they could for a third-down play in the red zone. Alabama needed 9 yards to move the chains, so Russell scrambled for 10.

One play afterwards, he flicked an straightforward scoring toss to Josh Ford. Suddenly, sweet sounds of silence. No more "Neck." Just Alabama standing on LSU's neck. Lane Kiffin still can't beat 'loaded' Alabama.

On Alabama's next drive, Russell completed a 25-yard beauty to Cederian Morgan, and suddenly the crowd was roaring again, but all the noise came from the southeast corner of the stadium, where the visiting fans were stationed.

Morgan looked straight into the teeth of the LSU crowd, and he danced.

Call it a playoff jig? Still work to do, but Alabama is in much better shape than its rival.

It's hasty to say this loss eliminates LSU, but here's the cold truth: LSU has played three good teams this season, and it's lost every time. Two more good opponents await.

Kiffin for so long envied LSU coaches who obtained to coach their home games inside this venue. Tiger Stadium became one of the plenty of selling points when Kiffin decided to leave Mississippi for a conference rival. And, still, Kiffin can't beat Alabama.

In the run-up to the game, Kiffin polished up Alabama. He described the Tide as "loaded, " and he became the first person on planet earth to compare this Alabama defense to a vintage Nick Saban defense.

With more than six minutes remaining, LSU fans began marching for the stadium exits. Kiffin's first LSU season is accelerating toward the bust bin.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Share your feedback to support improve our site!

In short, alabama wins it, LSU blows it, and CFP committee flexes visionary rankings is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.