College football getting headlines, LSU opens up maskless

In case you were not aware, the NFL’s annual livestock auction starts Thursday and will run for three days and college football is working it to get headlines.

Give them credit, it’s a good public relations move, especially with LSU opening everything up including baseball, softball and track with the Hogs in attendance this weekend.

And no masks required and tailgating will be back in business as it should be everywhere.

Suddenly, the College Football Playoff is talking about expansion to somewhere more than the current four teams although not a soul has an idea how many it will end up being.

The most popular theory being floated, as Bill King of Nashville Sports Radio said on Halftime with Phil Elson on Wednesday, is 12 teams. That would be the eight conference champions and four wildcards.

The good news for the Southeastern Conference is that means Alabama could not make it to the league’s title game, still get in the playoff … or they could even put over half of the SEC West in there.

That scenario won’t happen but there have been a few years where if you wanted the best teams it probably should be happening.

The SEC also announced on Wednesday the lineup for 2021 Media Days in Hoover, Ala., July 19-22, and Sam Pittman will get his first appearance there on Thursday morning, the last day of the event. Last year’s event in Atlanta was a covid casualty.

In case you want to go ahead and plan your summer viewing, here’s the lineup the league announced:

Monday, July 19
Florida – Dan Mullen
LSU – Ed Orgeron
South Carolina – Shane Beamer

Tuesday, July 20
Georgia – Kirby Smart
Kentucky – Mark Stoops
Ole Miss – Lane Kiffin
Tennessee – Josh Heupel

Wednesday, July 21
Alabama – Nick Saban
Mississippi State – Mike Leach
Texas A&M – Jimbo Fisher
Vanderbilt – Clark Lea

Thursday, July 22
Arkansas – Sam Pittman
Auburn – Bryan Harsin
Missouri – Eli Drinkwitz

Following the theory there will be people in attendance, most of them will be gone by Thursday morning. That’s not unusual, by the way. When Saban finishes, half the crowd leaves, then Leach and Fisher will probably wrap up most of it.

It happens every year because Saban will be there on Wednesday. If the league wants to keep everybody for the full four days, put Nick at the end on Thursday and there will be a full four-day crowd.

And, finally, in a Wednesday news dump to avoid competing with the NFL Draft, LSU announced they are going to be at 100% capacity in Tiger Stadium this fall with no mask requirement.

It will start Friday when the Hogs come to town for a weekend series with the Tigers. Here’s the key part of the official release from LSU:

LSU Athletics, following the lead of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edward’s proclamation on Tuesday allowing for 100 percent capacity at outdoor sporting events, will move to full capacity at all outdoor sporting events effective immediately, LSU Director of Athletics Scott Woodward announced on Wednesday.

Masks will no longer be required at LSU sporting events held outdoors.

The move to full capacity at LSU outdoor athletic events starts on Friday night at Alex Box Stadium when the Tigers host top-ranked Arkansas. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. followed by a 6:30 p.m. start on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Other events on the LSU campus this weekend include softball hosting Arkansas for a three-game series beginning on Saturday as well as the nation’s top-ranked track and field program hosting the LSU Invitational on Saturday at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.

Fans will also be allowed to resume normal tailgating activities on campus with no COVID-related restrictions.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes other teams in the league to follow along with that, which was probably the most interesting news that came out.