The defending national champions and preseason No. 1 meet today at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, and the implications are huge for No. 11 LSU (5-1, 3-1 SEC) and No. 9 Georgia (6-1, 3-1).

A loss will put one of the clubs behind the 8-ball in its respective SEC division, and the team that winds up on the light side of the scoreboard will almost certainly have no shot at finishing the season atop the national heap.

But Bulldog boss Mark Richt hasn’t looked that far ahead — not yet, anyway. While some teams are already thinking about style points and moving up the polls, Richt simply wants to escape a hostile environment with a victory.

“We are going to Baton Rouge and one of the most storied stadiums in the country, a place I can truthfully say is the loudest place I’ve every been,” Richt said. “LSU is the defending national champs. They’ve won more games than anybody else in our league the last five years. They’ve won two national championships and three SEC championships recently. Coach (Les) Miles is winning at a rate that is unprecedented in the league.”

Georgia enters a long road trip on the heels of a 24-14 victory over Vanderbilt, a game that once again saw the Dawgs move the markers but struggle to find the end zone.

LSU knocked off South Carolina 24-17 last week, helping ease the blow of a 51-31 thrashing at the hands of Florida on Oct. 11.

To prep for UGA, Miles has studied films of Alabama’s 41-30 victory in Athens in which the Crimson Tide raced out to a 31-0 halftime lead.

“The thing that Alabama did was they threw the ball extremely well at the beginning of the game and put Georgia in a deficit for a time and really just created a must-throw situation for their offense,” Miles said. “That was the best way that they controlled their running attack, but both (Knowshon) Moreno and (Matthew) Stafford to their receivers are great weapons on an offensive side of the ball. We’re going to have to be ready for that. You can’t have a guy standing in the hole.

“You just have to be ready to tackle a great running back like Moreno. They can throw it. They have a big, tall quarterback who can throw it out there, so we’re going to have to play some coverage as well.”

The Tigers are doing well with a two-quarterback system, using Jarrett Lee as the passer and Andrew Hatch as the runner.

Charles Scott is averaging more than 100 rushing yards per outing, and the LSU defense is solid across the board.

Richt said his charges have had a good week of practice leading up the contest, but realizes the squad must take advantage of opportunities when they arise.

“They are very well coached,” Richt said. “It’s going to be a great challenge and a very, very difficult challenge for us.”

Moreno finally had a Heisman-like performance against Vandy, rushing for 172 yards on 23 carries against Vandy.

A.J. Green came up big receiving, with 132 yards on seven catches, while Stafford was a modest 23-13-2 passing for 194 yards and two scores.

The competition, however, steps up today.

“It’s definitely a challenge,” Moreno said. “All four guys up front are really good athletes and players. They are really making big plays right now, so I think that will be a challenge for us up front. Their linebackers are really fast, and they float to the ball really well. The safeties make big hits and make plays also. All-around on their defense they are a really good team.

“It’s going to be an exciting atmosphere and a tough place to play, but it’s a business trip for us. We’re going to go down there and play the best we can play.”

From a league standpoint UGA could better withstand a loss than LSU. Even with two SEC defeats, the Bulldogs could still win the East by running the table.

The Tigers, on the other hand, would be severely hampered by two losses with Alabama sitting atop the West undefeated.

And as for “style points,” Richt has his own definition

“Winning to me is pretty stylish,” Richt said. “If we keep winning I’ll be happy, I promise you that.”