College GameDay made LSU’s Week 1 spotlight about more than Clemson, Lane Kiffin and a bizarre roster situation. The crew also used the platform to push for the Protect College Sports Act, with Nick Saban leading the charge and several of his cohosts backing the idea that college sports needs some kind of order.
The conversation came as LSU kept two roster spots open for players who had signed with NFL teams, only to become available again after being cut. For now, the Tigers are waiting. That uncertainty gave the GameDay panel a live example of how messy the current setup has become.
Saban said the whole thing has gotten out of hand.
“When you look at all this it’s crazy,” said Saban. “I mean, five or ten years ago would we ever think that a NFL player could come back and play in college.
I mean, it’s absolutely crazy. But the transferring is out of control.
How does it affect graduation rates and all the other things? So I’m a big proponent the Protect College Sports Act.
I think it puts some guardrails and gives us an opportunity for leadership that can implement some rules that would control transferring. Five years of eligibility.
A little bit of control of the cap in terms of how much the players can make.”
Saban said the bill was “80 percent good,” and Pat McAfee agreed, saying that even if it isn’t perfect, it’s better than doing nothing. Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit also said the situation needs a fix, and they wanted that fix soon.
The timing, though, may not be ideal for the bill’s supporters. It had been expected to come up in a couple of weeks, but Speaker Mike Johnson decided Congress would cancel work for the last two weeks of September. Congress is already off through the entire month of October and then the first week of November, which means the bill may not even be discussed until after LSU plays Alabama in Week 10.
McAfee responded with his own call to action: “Hey, DC! I know you guys just went to recess or something.
Okay? I hope you’re playing on the monkey bars and all that type of stuff.
Let’s get to work to save college sports.”
In Other News...
LSU Fans Had Plenty To Say About GameDay In Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge got the full College GameDay treatment to open the season, and Lainey Wilson was right in the middle of it. Ahead of her turn as the Week 1 celebrity guest picker, the Louisiana native performed the shows intro song and then rolled into her hit Cant Sit Still, giving LSU fans an early jolt before the real football talk took over.
The reaction online was quick and mixed, with plenty of viewers taking aim at both Wilsons performance and ESPNs decision to alter the familiar GameDay opening. Even so, not every fan was bothered by the change, and some seemed more welcoming of Wilsons presence than other parts of the broadcast. For a show built on tradition, it was a reminder that even a familiar Saturday ritual can still stir up a debate in Tiger country. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Drama Just Drew A Warning Tigers Fans Can't Ignore
The eligibility dispute around LSU and former NFL players has already escaped the usual offseason noise and turned into something much bigger, with Paul Finebaum weighing in sharply on the back-and-forth involving Lane Kiffin, the Tigers and the SEC. Finebaum praised commissioner Greg Sankey and the conference presidents for how they handled the matter, but his comments also underscored how quickly a rules question can become a referendum on the people running a program.
For LSU, the uncomfortable part is not just the original issue, but the way it has invited scrutiny about leadership and the possibility of larger fallout if the situation keeps escalating. Finebaum even floated the idea that SEC presidents could talk about removing LSU from the league, though he made clear that outcome is unlikely, which is a reminder of how much tension this episode has created around a program that would rather be talking about football. [Read more 🡒]
College GameDay Took A Strange Turn Before LSU Clemson Even Kicked Off
ESPNs College GameDay got the kind of Baton Rouge welcome nobody had on the script for LSU-Clemson, as lightning forced the network to hit pause during its 40th season kickoff show. What was supposed to be the usual charged, early-morning buildup around the Tigers instead turned into a weather delay that sent the crew scrambling and changed the feel of the entire broadcast before the game even started.
When the show came back, it did so from inside an empty theater, a sharp contrast to the packed scene fans expected from one of college footballs biggest opening weekends. The interruption and relocation quickly became part of the conversation around the day, a strange little pregame wrinkle that stood out almost as much as the matchup itself. [Read more 🡒]