LSU to soak up national spotlight Tuesday night

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - LSU will have two sporting events featured back-to-back on national TV Tuesday, Jan. 4.

Both games will be televised on ESPN and available for streaming on the ESPN app. Audio of the game will be broadcast throughout the state on the LSU Sports Radio Network. CLICK HERE for the radio station in your area.

First, the No. 21 LSU men’s basketball team will host Southeastern Conference rival No. 16 Kentucky at home in the Maravich Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Kentucky is one of two nationally-ranked SEC-rivals LSU will face this week. No. 18 Tennessee comes to town on Saturday, Jan. 8. The Tigers fell five spots, from No. 16 to No. 21, in the latest AP Top 25 poll after losing at No. 11 Auburn on Dec. 29, 2021.

LSU head coach Will Wade said the matchup against Kentucky will be "the most physical game we've played all year."

Coverage of the Texas Bowl, featuring LSU and Kansas State will begin immediately after the basketball game. The kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. at NRG Stadium in Houston.

The Texas Bowl is the only football game, college or professional, scheduled for Tuesday. It’s also the last bowl game before the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, featuring No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 1 Alabama, on Monday, Jan. 10.

LSU’s roster for the Texas Bowl has been in flux since the end of the regular season. Several LSU players have since opted out of the bowl game or entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, including quarterback Max Johnson.

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Johnson, who started all of LSU’s 12 regular-season games, is transferring to SEC-rival Texas A&M.

Ironically, Texas A&M was LSU’s final opponent of the regular season and Johnson threw the last-minute game-winning touchdown pass to lift the Tigers over the Aggies on Nov. 27, 2021.

Offensive line coach Brad Davis will serve as LSU’s interim head coach during the Texas Bowl since Ed Orgeron’s tenure as head coach ended after the Texas A&M game and Brian Kelly’s tenure does not begin officially until later this year.

LSU has not yet named its starting quarterback for the Texas Bowl. It is not immediately clear who will start as the signal-caller after Johnson entered the transfer portal.

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