| The week you play Alabama is not the time for your team to be weakened. But that's the cirmstance in which the LSU football team, particularly its defense, finds itself. LSU coach Brian Kelly said Monday that starting cornerback Zy Alexander would be out for a significant amount of time. That was expected. Kelly also said Monday that defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo has had surgery on an unspecified injury. That was unexpected, a shocker really, since he'd played through injuries all season until the Army game two weeks ago. Wingo tweeted he'd be back for the College Football Playoff. You have to admire his optimism, but you also have to concede that LSU's slim chances of making the CFP — which require beating Bama on Saturday (6:45 p.m., CBS) — now look even slimmer. LSU was in a tough spot, and now the Tigers are in an even tougher one. Of course, the season goes on and it's next man up. Next game up for LSU after Alabama is Florida. We'd like to tell you when and which network the LSU-Florida game will be on, but CBS merely put a six-day hold on the game Monday, meaning we'll have to wait until after the Bama game to get a time and network for that one. Alabama coach Nick Saban also held his weekly news conference Monday. Check out what he had to say right here. Despite LSU's injury news, the Tigers keep closing the betting line gap with Bama. Here's what we we're seeing out of Vegas. The LSU men's basketball team played its lone exhibition game Monday night, pasting Louisiana Christian 132-44 at the PMAC. And no, Jalen Cook did not play. You can also see a photo gallery from the game with a click. Finally, our Wilson Alexander is back from getting hitched and he's itching to put another LSU football mailbag together. So please submit your questions in the form of a question here. That's all for a busy, newsy start to the week. We're here every single day with the best all-around coverage of the Tigers, so come back soon. Tomorrow would be a good idea. See ya, Scott Rabalais | 