Crimson Tikes: Pulp Fiction

The Alabama Crimson Tide has four games remaining in the regular season, including two against programs that have already made head coaching changes: LSU and Auburn. That doesn't bode well for the opposition as interim coaches can have a difficult time keeping the team focussed, but occasionally it can help a team play with desperation as it comes to the conclusion that it really has nothing to lose.

Throw in NIL and the transfer portal, and it's almost impossible to tell where everyone's heads may be at in Baton Rouge — although some would argue that's nothing new.

Let's consider what we do know. LSU is 5-3. What's it playing for? The SEC's bowl affiliations are with the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, the Transperfect Music City Bowl in Nashville, the TaxAct Texas Bowl in Houston, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis and the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. Another team will play in the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte this year.

Right now, per the initial College Football Playoff rankings the SEC would get four playoff teams, and then the pecking order would probably be Texas, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Missouri and Tennessee all getting their bowl assignments ahead of LSU.

Consequently, the Tigers are on pace for something like the Music City Bowl, against an opponent on par with Northwestern.

Yeah, Alabama is easily LSU's biggest game it'll play the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, your guess about where former head coach Brian Kelly might end up is as good as anyone's. On Thursday he issued a statement through social media that he'll be cheering for interim coach Frank Wilson and the team the rest of the season. This was one day after LSU named Verge Ausberry the new athletic director by new university president Wade Rousse.

“This journey began with great expectations with my own vision of how to get there,” Kelly said. “Sometimes the journey does not end the way we hope.”

Actually, if you remember how strange things were when Kelly was hired in 2022 (remember the fake accent that came across as insulting?), this is exactly how a lot of people thought his time at LSU would end:

Crimson Tikes: Pulp Fiction | Anthony Sisco

The Best of Crimson Tikes

"Crimson Tikes" is the brainchild of Anthony Sisco, who is passionate about all things Crimson Tide. Although his career paths have taken him in different directions, the cartoon centered around Alabama athletics has been a labor of love for the past few years.

He and his wife live in Hickory Flat, Ga., where they raised two kids and a multitude of pets. He attended Alabama through its distance learning program to study writing and literature. Although Sisco still loves to visit Tuscaloosa whenever possible (the self-described lifelong zealot of Alabama football considers the campus "hallowed ground."

Originally out of Huntsville, his background includes two years in the U.S. Army, stationed in Monterrey, Calif.; plus 30 years of full and lay ministry that stretched from Atlanta all the way up to New England. Mix in 20 years of various entrepreneurial pursuits and you’ll see hints of what he describes as spiritual insights and philosophical musings, all with a Peanuts-type approach to the Crimson Tide.”

Sisco's compilation books include: “Crimson Tikes - The Tradition Rolls On,” “Bouncing Back,” “Out of Order” and “The Best of Crimson Tikes.” His latest is "Bama Fans Only" and can be ordered at www.anthonysisco.com.

Crimson Tikes: Bama Fans Only cover | Anthony Sisco