By The Associated Press
Baton Rouge, La. – As Mike the Tiger slept Sunday, kids and parents crowded into a corner to get a close look at LSU’s mascot in his enormous, enclosed sanctuary.
Elsewhere around campus, broken tree limbs were being sawed off huge, old oak trees, cleanup crews gathered smaller fallen branches into piles and white pickup trucks carrying workers and toting away the mess left by Hurricane Rita made up the bulk of the traffic.
The day before LSU’s long- awaited home opener, Baton Rouge was hot and windy, but for the most part dry, and recovering from the second hurricane to slam into Louisiana in less than a month.
Erin Larmann, like most of the people around here, looks at the Tigers’ game against Tennessee tonight, which was pushed back two days because of Rita, as part of that recovery.
“I definitely think it’s about time,” said Larmann, who was forced out of New Orleans by Katrina and has been staying with friends in Baton Rouge. She and her family got out unharmed.
“Everybody is looking for something to celebrate about – celebrating how fortunate we’ve all been.”
Not far away, the American flag flew at half-staff for those who have not been as fortunate.
No. 3 LSU has played just one game because of Katrina and Rita.
Three times the Tigers had their home opener delayed by storms that ravaged Louisiana’s Gulf Coast and sent thousands seeking shelter.
The only game the Tigers played, they won, 35-31 over Arizona State in Tempe. That game on Sept. 10 was supposed to be played at Tiger Stadium.
But then the LSU campus was housing thousands of evacuees, and being used as a staging area for relief workers.
Slowly, the campus has returned to normal. No longer are people sleeping in the basketball arena.
“We served a role there,” LSU athletic department spokesman Michael Bonnette said. “We did our part in trying to help through a difficult time, but since we’ve kind of come back to a normal state. School’s in and things are the way they are supposed to be.”
New LSU coach Les Miles and his talented team were supposed to finally get their home season started on Saturday, but with Hurricane Rita heading toward Louisiana, Tennessee pushed for the game to be delayed again.
Rita dumped at least 5 inches of rain on Baton Rouge and did another number on its trees. While it did no major damage in the region, it wouldn’t have been a good day to be traveling around Louisiana or into the state, as Tennessee planned to do.
Polls: Michigan fell out of The Associated Press top 25, ending a streak of 114 straight weeks in the rankings, which was the longest in the nation. The last poll that didn’t include the Wolverines was Oct. 18, 1998.
Southern California extended its streak of No. 1 rankings to 23 in the latest media poll. The Trojans picked up two first place-votes after wiping out an early 13-point deficit and blowing out Oregon 45-13 on Saturday.
The Wolverines lost at Wisconsin 23-20 to fall to 2-2. No. 9 Miami now has the longest current streak at 93.
USC received 59 of a possible 65 first-place votes. No. 2 Texas received the other six.
Virginia Tech moved up a spot to No. 3 after a 51-7 romp over Georgia Tech. .
No. 5 is Florida, followed by Florida State and Georgia.
