Think about it: Why do LSU or Alabama try so hard to win this game Saturday?

I saw them say Lsu had a 30 % chance with a loss to bama

I hope bamas number 2 in the rankings,but thats not happening

So you don't think with the loser of the WLOCP (Florida is still 10, could make it in 8 or 12 team format) still in the hunt that it hurts the spectacle of the game itself?

Just saw, 56chance for lsu to get in now. Sec has 46%chanve to get 2 teams in.

Damn Georgia 15% and Oklahoma 9%

Herm Edwards says Hi.... you play to WIN... the competition is what drives winners... Bama has the crown and you gotta go for the crown or be a cuck and accept defeat. frick that...

Scenarios are for losers... WIN the game

Is there any collegiate or pro sport other than college football where losing a regular season game eliminates you from competing for a national championship?

I reject the premise that a rematch in the playoffs is an inherent bad thing. If the two best teams in a sport happen to meet in the regular season and the playoffs, then it is what it is.

because you play to win the game! There's no assurance a one loss SEC teams gets in the CFP unless they are SEC champs.
Any one loss team can get in because it's only the judgement of the CFP Selection Committee that matters.
Of course, there is pride, recruiting, etc. Plus the opportunity of playing for an SEC championship is not just a secondary prize.
LSU has much more pressure to win than Bama. The monkey is on LSU's back to beat Bama and break the streak. Just like the monkey is on Georgia's back to beat Bama. UGa has lost it's last 5 games to Bama and they all mattered. they were all for high stakes.

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Other than pride and false bravado?

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Did you play sports? I'm seriously asking because for competitive athletes games like UGA-UF and Bama-LSU are important events in and of themselves. Sure winning the CFP playoff is the ultimate goal but these games existed before the CFP and were every bit as big a deal to win as they are now for the players.

Also I would not take this as some sort of infallible truth:

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LSU would have a 73.0 percent chance of the making the Playoff if it loses to Alabama and finishes 11-1 without reaching the SEC title game, while the Crimson Tide would have a 65.3 percent chance of making the field under that same scenario.

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First, 73% and 65% are not 100% so why would you want to put your fate in other things falling your way? You don't.

Second, while there have been two 1 loss non-conference winning teams make the playoffs, BOTH times they were able to get in because there were conference champions with 2 losses. There is still a very good chance you have 4 conference champions with 0 or 1 losses so I think those % for a one loss non-conference winning LSU or Alabama getting in are kind of high. Particularly for Alabama whose resume with a loss to LSU would not be that great.

Pac-12 still has Oregon and Utah with one loss

ACC still has Clemson and Wake with one loss or less, but we pretty much know Clemson will win the ACC and be in

Big 12 still has Baylor and OU with one loss or less

Big 10 still has Ohio State, Penn State, and Minnesota with zero losses

SEC still has Alabama, LSU, and Georgia with one loss or less

I think there is better than 50/50 chance that there are at least 4 conferences with champs that have 1 loss or less, which puts a 1 loss non-champ in a precarious position.

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The loser will undoubtedly have an easier path to the Playoffs and New Orleans.

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There's no guarantee the loser of this game doesn't drop another game. Alabama still has Auburn.

Because each year the game consists of the 2 best teams in the country.