Rivals anticipate another thriller

Four meetings in past decade have gone into overtime.

NO. 2 LSU AT NO. 4 ALABAMA TUSCALOOSA, ALA. — By now, O.J. Howard and a few million college football fans pretty much know what to expect when Alabama and LSU meet on the football field.

The stakes will be high, the hits will be punishing and plentiful, and there might even be some free football thrown in as a bonus. The second-ranked Tigers visit No. 4 Alabama tonight in a Southeastern Conference showdown that has mostly lived up to its billing in recent years.

Howard, Alabama’s tight end, has a good idea what it will be like with 100,000-plus raucous fans packed into Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“Loud, for 60 minutes. Everybody’s into it,” he said. “A great atmosphere. You won’t be able to get this one back, and I think it’ll be a game everybody will want to remember.”

More often than not, this one has lived up to the billing. The Tigers (7-0, 4-0 SEC) and Crimson Tide (7-1, 4-1) are both in the top four of the initial playoff rankings released Tuesday.

This is the seventh time in the past decade that both teams entered the game ranked in the top 10, with four meetings going into overtime during that span. That includes Alabama’s win last season in Baton Rouge. Nine times during that span, the winner has No. 2 LSU at No. 4 Alabama, 8 p.m., CBS, 680 played in a BCS bowl and/ or for an SEC championship.

“I think it’s going to be a quality game with the best of both teams being featured, and some special players on both sides,” LSU coach Les Miles said.

It’s also the type of game where finesse pretty much goes out the window. LSU will run 230-pound tailback Leonard Fournette, college football’s top rusher with 1,352 yards and 15 touchdowns, right at the nation’s No. 3 run defense.

Alabama sends 242-pound Derrick Henry, the league’s No. 2 rusher with 1,044 yards and 14 TDs, at the sixth-best run defense.

“It’s a banger for sure,” LSU center Ethan Pocic said.

Here are some things to watch in the LSU-Alabama game:

Picks anyone? LSU quarterback Brandon Harris hasn’t thrown an interception this season, on 128 attempts. Alabama’s ball-hawking defense has picked off 10 over the last five games, returning four for touchdowns.

Losing streak: LSU has lost four straight games in the series starting with the national championship game in January 2012, including one by four points and another in overtime.