The winner of the SEC West, for all intents and purposes, will be the winner of Saturday's game between No. 17 Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) and No. 4 LSU (6-1, 3-1).
In the past seven years, the winner of Auburn - LSU has won the SEC West, and the home team has won each of those seven games. In fact, nobody else in the conference has fared better in SEC games since the start of the 2000 season. Auburn is 46-16 and LSU 46-17.
LSU senior running back Jacob Hester knows to expect another physical battle; his Tigers lost a grueling game to Kentucky last week to fall from No. 1 in the country.
"After any SEC game, you feel like you've been in six car wrecks. It's just unbelievable,"said Hester, who is nearly 100 percent after suffering a deep thigh bruise against Kentucky last week. "I'm not trying to say anything bad about any other conference. But after you play an SEC game, you can tell the difference."
Yet it being a home game for LSU, it might be a good thing that Auburn is on the road. It has won eight straight games on the road and 13 of its past 14 away from home. The only loss during that span was to LSU in 2005. This season, Auburn has won at Florida and Arkansas in its three-game winning streak.
In fact, under Coach Tommy Tuberville, Auburn has never lost to a top-five team.
"We don't spend a lot of time talking about where we're playing or the crowd,"said Tuberville. "We just try to get better each week and challenge them to keep their poise and play consistently. There's no secret."
LSU counts on its ground game with Hester, Keiland Williams, Trindon Holliday and Charles Scott, but the Auburn defense has been stout against the run, including only allowing only 43 yards to Heisman candidate Darren McFadden last week.
"We have to run the ball,"Hester said. "We still have to try to establish the run game because that's our offense. They're a good run stopper and we're a good run team, so somebody's got to win."LSU averages 232 yards rushing per game. Auburn allows 109 yards per game on the ground.
"This is always a great game, one of the better ones in the conference,"Tuberville said. "Even nationally, it's picked up a lot of interest. We always expect a tough, hard-fought game against LSU, especially when you go on the road. Their fans really get into it. Our players enjoy going down and playing in Baton Rouge. It's always an interesting game."
LSU will get a big boost this week with the return of arguably its best offensive player in receiver Early Doucet, who has missed the past five games (well, he played one snap against Kentucky) with a groin injury.
He caught 15 passes in LSU's first two games.
"Early has practiced the entire week,"LSU coach Les Miles said. "We'd expect him to see playing time. Our receiving corps is looking forward to Early's return."
In addition, starting guard Will Arnold, who has been out with a knee injury, practiced Wednesday for the first time in four weeks and should play.
A win by LSU would get the Tigers at least to No. 3 in the BCS standings with No. 2 South Florida's loss on Thursday night.
"I feel like it will work out for us. We're still in good shape,"LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey said.
"We're not where we were or where we could be, but we still have a lot to play for."
The lowdown: Auburn has never lost to a top-five team under Tuberville, but LSU has won 17 in a row in Death Valley. The last three meetings have been decided by a total of eight points. LSU is -10 at WagerWeb.com and will win the game, but Auburn should cover.
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