LSU’s season opener against Clemson is already drawing the kind of attention that usually comes with a playoff game, not a Week 1 kickoff.
According to ESPN, LSU Football officials confirmed that Saturday’s home game will be the most media- and celebrity-credentialed game in Tiger Stadium history. With the 102nd season in Tiger Stadium set to begin, Baton Rouge is about to become the center of the college football world.
A big reason for the spotlight is Lane Kiffin, whose arrival at LSU last November came with all the noise you’d expect from a coach who seems to live at the center of the sport’s biggest conversations. The expectations around him have been sky-high from the start, and the headlines have only kept piling up.
Kiffin pushed publicly for permission to coach LSU rival Ole Miss through the College Football Playoff, but he was denied. He later sat for an interview with Vanity Fair and said it was difficult to recruit prospects to Ole Miss because of the school’s historical ties to racism.
After that, he posted and then deleted Make America Great Again-inspired LSU-themed hats and tagged President Donald Trump before stepping away from social media. More recently, he has been defending former NFL rookies’ right to play a fifth season of college football this fall through court orders.
Taken together, the whole run of storylines has only intensified the curiosity around LSU’s latest chapter under one of college football’s most talked-about coaches.
On Saturday, that attention lands squarely in Death Valley.
In Other News...
Nick Saban Just Sent LSU A Clemson Warning Fans Will Feel
Nick Sabans memories of LSU still carry a lesson he says every team eventually has to learn: the environment can help, but it cannot do the work for you. Looking back on his early years in Baton Rouge, Saban said his teams sometimes leaned too heavily on the energy inside Tiger Stadium instead of letting their own play set the tone, a reminder that arrived fast after an early-season loss in his first year.
He even put up a sign in the locker room to make the point clear, tying success to what happened on the field rather than what came from the stands. With LSU set for a matchup against Clemson, Saban made it clear he hopes the current Tigers dont fall into the same trap, especially in a game where the atmosphere will matter but execution will matter more. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs Eligibility Fight Just Took A Turn Fans Cant Ignore
A Baton Rouge judges ruling this week gave former collegiate athletes a path to pursue a fifth season of college sports, and LSU is already moving to adjust to the legal reality. The preliminary injunction came in a lawsuit involving the NCAA and Southeastern Conference, and LSU President Wade Rousse acknowledged the decision, saying the university will follow the law while continuing to support its programs.
Lane Kiffin, Verge Ausberry and LSU now find themselves in the middle of a separate SEC lawsuit tied to the broader fight over the injunction, adding another layer to an already messy dispute. For LSU, the issue is no longer just about how one ruling affects eligibility, but how far the conference is willing to go in challenging the school and its people as the legal battle keeps unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Will Be Watching This Baton Rouge QB Family Showdown
The Louisiana high school season opens with a matchup LSU fans will want to keep an eye on, even if the Tigers are not on the field. Archbishop Rummel visiting University High School brings together two new quarterbacks making their first starts after offseason transfers, and both carry names that already mean something around Baton Rouge football circles.
Knox Kiffin, the three-star quarterback and son of LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, will be on one sideline, while Colton Nussmeier, a four-star Georgia commit and younger brother of NFL quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, will be on the other. For LSU followers, it is a familiar kind of early-season intrigue, with two local family storylines intersecting before the high school calendar even gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]