Alabama and LSU prepare for their last annual meeting, something Lane Kiffin calls 'sad'

Alabama and LSU have spent decades giving college football fans a reason to mark their calendars.Next year, those fans will have to find another game.The longtime Southeastern Conference opponents have played every season since 1964, a stretch that will end after No. 9 Alabama visits No. 15 LSU on Saturday. The series will resume in Tuscaloosa in 2028, but its annual place on the schedule is going away.A matchup that has helped decide national championships didn’t make the cut when the SEC selected three annual opponents for each school under its new nine-game conference schedule.LSU coach Lane Kiffin called the change “sad.”“And I understand, so I’m not being critical,” he said Monday. “All the decisions, usually, I think all of them probably really come down to money, whether that’s the realignments, whether that’s the rivalries. So, I think it’s all sad in general in the big picture of things that money drives to make (changes to) such great traditions and rivalries.”There’s still p