LSU moves clash with ULL to ’09 season

• By SCOTT RABALAIS AND SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriters
• Published: Jul 17, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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While the 2008 football season draws nearer, the perpetual work on college football schedules has altered the landscape for LSU, Southern and Louisiana-Lafayette in 2009.

While ULL will open with a home game at Cajun Field against Southern on Sept. 5, 2009, the Ragin’ Cajuns have also agreed to move its next game against LSU from Sept. 25, 2010 to Sept. 19, 2009 in Tiger Stadium.

ULL goes on the road the following week to play Nebraska.

The move leaves two holes on LSU’s 2010 schedule — and plenty of work still to be done on the 2009 slate.

LSU still needs to schedule an opponent for its still vacant Nov. 14 home game. And LSU has the financial problem of currently having just six home games scheduled in 2009: Vanderbilt, ULL, Florida, Auburn, Arkansas and a school to be named.

The Tigers are currently scheduled to play at Washington to open the 2009 season, along with trips to Mississippi State, Georgia, Tulane, Alabama and Ole Miss.

Verge Ausberry, LSU’s senior associate athletic director in charge of football scheduling, said the school is looking to schedule a non-BCS conference school for the November 2009 home game that won’t demand a return trip from the Tigers.

“Things are in the works,” Ausberry said, to bump LSU’s home schedule from six to seven games in 2009.

LSU has eight home games this season. The Tigers open Aug. 30 in Tiger Stadium against Appalachian State. The game will be televised by ESPN.

LSU will also play at home against Troy, North Texas, Mississippi State, Georgia, Tulane, Alabama and Ole Miss. The Tigers play at Auburn, Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas.

Aside from Appalachian State, there is still just one LSU game set for television. That’s the Nov. 28 regular-season finale at Arkansas, as usual being played the day after Thanksgiving on CBS.

Ausberry said he anticipates there is interest in a number of other LSU games. However CBS, which has right of first refusal on SEC games, is holding up the SEC’s other networks, ESPN and Raycom.

“They’re waiting to see how things fall,” Ausberry said of CBS. For example, he said, “we know the Auburn game will be on CBS or ESPN.”