College football’s Week 10 slate puts two marquee rivalry games on the same Saturday. Unbeaten Utah hosts BYU in the Holy War at noon ET, and Alabama travels to Baton Rouge to face LSU in Death Valley later in the day.
Utah enters the game unbeaten, having recently defeated Cincinnati, Houston, Colorado and Kansas. A win keeps the Utes firmly in the College Football Playoff conversation. BYU carries one loss on the season, a 39-31 defeat at UCF, but the Cougars also hold a 28-24 win over Notre Dame and just beat Arizona State 27-20 behind quarterback Bear Bachmeier.
The series has tilted toward BYU recently. The Cougars have won the last three meetings in the rivalry after Utah had won nine in a row before that stretch. All three of those recent games finished with between 42 and 45 combined points.
Analysts note that while Utah is considered the stronger team on paper, BYU has controlled this matchup in recent years and the games have been decided by narrow margins.
Alabama at LSU
Both Alabama and LSU enter their matchup at 6-2, and both programs know a third loss would seriously damage their playoff hopes. LSU has won four of its last five games, including a 38-17 win at Auburn, with its only recent loss coming 35-34 at Kentucky. Alabama has rebounded from back-to-back losses to Georgia and Tennessee with a 31-20 win over Texas A&M.
The quarterback matchup features Alabama’s Keelon Russell against LSU’s Sam Leavitt. Alabama won last year’s meeting 20-9 in Tuscaloosa and has taken 15 of the last 23 matchups in the series dating back to 2004. This year’s game is in Baton Rouge under night-game conditions.
Analysts point out that while LSU has momentum and the home crowd, Alabama’s long dominance of the series makes the Tide a live underdog by more than a field goal.
Both games carry major stakes for playoff positioning, with four ranked or contending programs looking to avoid a third loss this late in the season.
