So it turns out LSU went all the way to Florida to announce to the world that — as far-fetched funny as it always seemed anyway — the Tigers are no longer in contention for the Southeastern Conference championship game. Scratches any chance the College Football Playoff too.

And this time the Tigers really, really, absolutely, positively mean it.

A season that was clinging to  a thread while hanging its hat on some screwy mathematical possibilities is officially wicked-witch-of-the-east most sincerely dead in the water.

Maybe LSU will win another game this year. Who knows? I wouldn’t bet on it.

Not after what happened against the Florida Gators Saturday afternoon, the latest in this three-game spiral that is as puzzling as it is ugly.

It’s a head-scratcher, apparently with no easy answers.

Only the time line seemed to change in Gainesville.

This go-around LSU needed only one week to beg the question: What in the infernal grand tarnation had the Tigers been working on the last seven days?

They do practice, right?

It took two weeks to cook up last week’s embarrassment in a 42-13 loss to Alabama, which followed a monumental melt-down at Texas A&M, which … well you know.

Whatever LSU was up to against Florida Saturday — with no open date to blame — might have been worse.

Alabama is a good team. Texas A&M certainly looked like the part in its second-half mauling of the Tigers.

Florida?

The Gators came in with a grumbling fan base of its own, not to mention fresh off of a 49-17 shellacking at Texas.

They had a mobile, but crippled, quarterback in DJ Lagway and there was a patched-up secondary for the LSU passing game’s pleasure.

It seemed like a perfect scenario for LSU to get its act together.

Instead, the spiral may have reached a new low, if that’s possible.

It made no sense.

LSU actually showed up with a usable running game — 120 yards, which adjusted for sacks (a huge adjustment) was 169 yards.

The Tigers were good on third downs — 13 of 24 conversions.

They controlled the ball for almost three-quarters of the game — 41:43-18:17 while running 92 plays. When did the Gators find the time for 27 points?

The only Tiger turnover was by an offensive lineman, a lost fumble by Emery Jones after he picked up and ran with a Garrett Nussmeier fumble.

LSU had only three penalties — granted one of them, for offensive pass interference, wiped out a touchdown.

And yet Florida won 27-16.

Somehow that just doesn’t add up.

Stats were never such bald-faced liars.

“They don’t give you a pat on the back because you had the ball longer or had (a lot of) first downs,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said.

Translation: The eye test looked pretty much like 27-16.

It was convincing enough, across the board, that LSU needn’t bother itself with much finger pointing.

“They played well, and we did not do enough to eliminate some of the mistakes that have been haunting us the last couple of weeks,” Kelly said.

The biggest mysteries, the constants, are an underachieving offensive line and a defense that continues to give up big plays in bulk, mostly at inopportune times.

Florida, certainly no offensive circus but making efficient use of its limited possession time, had nine plays of 15 yards or longer, including a routine 55-yard touchdown run up the middle that sealed the deal.

It was the usual explanations — lack of communication, out of position, inexperience, etc., etc.

They are starting to sound like tired excuses.

Confusion?

“Half of us thought we were running one play,” linebacker Whit Weeks said. “Half of us thought we were running another.

And remember when this LSU offensive line was touted as one of the nation’s best? Remember when it had allowed just two sacks through the first seven games? It was still up to only six sacks for the year coming into Saturday.

But Nussmeier has been running for his life these last three games and Saturday the stat sheet reflected it with seven sacks.

It can’t be as simple as missing one starter. But this collapse can be traced back to halftime of the Texas A&M game shortly after offensive guard Garrett Dellinger went down with a high ankle sprain and hasn’t played since.

Probably just a coincidence.

So while everyone was waiting for the LSU defense to catch up with its offense, maybe nobody considered the alternative.

But this is what it looks like when the offense sinks down to the defensive level.

Now an LSU team that was riding high in the SEC and CFP less than a month ago, will be answering to the question no team wants to hear:

What do you have left to play for?

Scooter Hobbs covers LSU athletics. Email him at scooter.hobbs@americanpress.com