Alabama football opened the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 8 when they were unveiled on Tuesday. The Crimson Tide sat one spot behind Texas, with Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan and Florida State making up the top four.

Nick Saban’s bunch still has a chance to win its way into the playoff, starting with Saturday’s matchup against LSU. On Wednesday, Saban was asked about his reaction to UA’s spot in the initial rankings and whether the Crimson Tide was thinking about it or focusing on winning.

“We’re not even focused on, you said, focused on winning,” Saban said. “I think we want to focus on the execution that we need to get so that we can have the opportunity to have success, win, whatever you want to call it, and practice every day the technical things that are going to help you be able to carry in over into games that will actually help you execute so that you have an opportunity to be successful against really good players and really good teams.”

The Crimson Tide’s matchup with LSU will have major implications for the SEC West race as the regular season begins to wind down. The game also serves as an opportunity for revenge, after the Tigers beat Alabama last season, effectively ending UA’s playoff hopes.

Earlier in the week, some of Alabama’s players said the game is personal. Things have been improving for UA through SEC play, with a win against Tennessee before the bye week moving the Tide to 5-0 against conference competition.

Saban went on to explain where he wanted his players’ minds to be in the late going, starting against LSU.

“It’s more, stay focused on the process of what you have to do,” Saban said. “And not become outcome-oriented and create a bunch of anxiety for yourself, but just play the next play. Play in that moment. Don’t look at the scoreboard. Don’t be affected by external factors, and that’s challenging, but I think that’s the best way to go about it.

Alabama and LSU are scheduled to kick off at 6:45 p.m. CT Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be aired on CBS.