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And you thought Ole Miss was bad.
The Tad Pad's got nothing on Coleman Coliseum, where LSU plays Alabama tonight carrying an 0-9 mark in the building since 2005.
Quite simply, it's the Tigers' white whale. There's no getting around it. Conquer the place or see most postseason hopes tossed overboard.
Luckily for LSU, there's a lot of things going for it to finally get a win in Tuscaloosa. Alabama spilled the tank on Thursday night against Florida, leaving the Tide with litte turnaround time to get over any dejection.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are fresh as can be, riding high off the momentum of the Missouri win and stocked with twice as much rest as Alabama. The intangibles are in LSU's favor here.
On the floor, Alabama is a favorable matchup, too. It's a thin bunch inside for the Tide, and they are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league. A rejuvenated Johnny O'Bryant III and Jordan Mickey should be able to flash some more high-low action on offense and control the glass.
Most teams that have been successful against LSU this season have been able to get games going not necessarily at a fast pace, but at least getting the score into the 70s and 80s. That's not Alabama's strength, as the Tide haven't reached 70 points in their last seven games. A shooting lull won't kill LSU in this one.
Alabama's offense relies too heavily on Trevor Releford, and it suffers for that. Releford is no doubt a dynamic All-SEC caliber guard but his teammates too often sit around and watch.
The senior averages 18.1 points per game and has a shooting line of .498/.390/.892, so he's not a bad guy to dominate possession. As a result though, Alabama is 292nd in the country with 11.1 assists per game. LSU won't be asked to expend a ton of energy defensively.
This all makes for perhaps LSU's best chance to win in T-town in a decade. But the task is still tall. Alabama could be down after the loss to Florida or it could come out with desperation as the season slips away. Alabama's lost many close games to good teams this season, so they're almost due.
The last three LSU NCAA Tournament teams (including two SEC title teams) couldn't win in Coleman Coliseum. If this year's Tigers want a crack at such a lofty postseason destination, they'll have to reverse the trend.