LSU’s bye week is anything but quiet.
While Tiger Stadium sits idle before Alabama comes to Baton Rouge next weekend, the biggest buzz around the football program has been the kickoff time. The SEC set LSU-Alabama for a 2:30 afternoon start, a change that landed with a jolt around Baton Rouge. For a rivalry that has lived in prime-time darkness for nearly two decades, the daylight window came as a stunner.
Lane Kiffin said the afternoon slot caught him completely off guard.
“Especially in 16 years, this game has been at night here all the time,” Kiffin said. “I never even considered that it wouldn’t be at night. So I guess that’s probably naive of me.”
There was better news on the basketball side. LSU men’s basketball got a major roster development when guard RJ Luis was granted a temporary court injunction, making him eligible to play. That clears the way for Luis to appear in the season opener against LSU-New Orleans on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the PMAC.
Kim Mulkey’s team is also moving toward the regular season. The Lady Tigers will play their final preseason exhibition Thursday against Loyola, with the same high-pressure, high-tempo style expected from the start: aggressive transition defense, work on the boards, and an attack built to overwhelm opponents. LSU officially opens the season Monday against Southeastern Louisiana.
On the diamond, Jay Johnson’s group is finishing fall intra-squad play at Alex Box Stadium before heading to Biloxi, Mississippi, for exhibition games against Samford. Softball is already in motion at Tiger Park, with a midweek matchup against McNeese leading into a home doubleheader on Sunday.
Elsewhere, volleyball keeps grinding through the heart of SEC play and is sharpening its defensive net presence ahead of key conference dates at the PMAC. Beach volleyball will host its home fall tournament Saturday as it prepares for the AVCA Pairs Championship.
Soccer has wrapped up its home regular-season schedule and now heads to Columbia to face Missouri on Sunday in the regular-season finale before turning to the SEC Tournament in Pensacola, Florida.
Cross country is bound for Columbia, Missouri, for the SEC Cross Country Championships, while men’s tennis is settling into doubles pairings and individual rankings after a physical fall regional run.
In Other News...
LSUs Top 10 Standing Looks Different After A Chaotic AP Shakeup
Week 9 brought a jolt to the AP Top 25, and the ripple effects around the country made LSUs place in the top 10 look a little different by the end of the weekend. Ohio State slipped after a quarterback injury and a rougher stretch of play, Florida and SMU took hits, and other ranked teams such as Arizona and Northwestern either lost or survived in unimpressive fashion, leaving voters with plenty to sort through.
Utahs convincing win over Cincinnati pushed it into the top five, while BYU and Indiana both escaped with victories that did not exactly strengthen their cases. For LSU, the broader shakeup matters because the Tigers are sitting in a poll picture that feels less settled than it did a week ago, with the teams around them wobbling and the path through the rankings getting harder to read. [Read more 🡒]
LSU's Ranking Suddenly Carries More Weight Before A Massive Showdown
A chaotic week around the AP Top 25 has only sharpened the significance of LSUs place in the rankings heading into a massive showdown. Seven ranked teams lost, and the ripple effects were felt across the country, including a notable Ohio State loss to USC that changed the shape of the College Football Playoff conversation in the Big Ten.
For LSU, the timing matters because every shift around the Tigers can change how their own rsum is viewed before the next big test. Teams moved up and down after the weekends results, and a few others are now knocking on the door with votes to crack the Top 25, which only raises the stakes for where LSU sits when the new poll settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Burrow Just Added Another Historic NFL Moment
Joe Burrow kept adding to his growing list of big-stage NFL moments Sunday, pushing the Cincinnati Bengals to a 43-36 overtime win over the Tennessee Titans in a game that turned into a showcase for his arm and his legs. The former LSU star threw for 462 yards and five touchdowns, then finished the job himself with a 9-yard run in overtime to seal one of the leagues most explosive performances of the season.
The line was historic even before the final snap, as Burrow became just the second quarterback in NFL history to post 450 passing yards, five passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the same game, matching a mark set by Norm Van Brocklin in 1951. Burrow also threw three interceptions, a reminder of how chaotic the night was, but the Bengals will take the result and the latest entry in their quarterbacks growing record of rare performances. [Read more 🡒]