LSU focusing on showdown against OSU

With final exams now behind them, LSU started its preparations for the BCS National Champion-ship Game against Ohio State.

The LSU Tigers (11-2) and Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1) will meet at the Louisiana Superdome on Monday, Jan. 7, for the BCS National Championship. Kickoff for the contest is slated for 7 p.m; it is being carried live nationally on FOX.

This marks the first meeting between the schools on the gridiron since 1988, when the then-ranked No. 18 Buckeyes edged out the ninth-ranked LSU, 36-33.

The Tigers entertained a host of national, regional and statewide media last Monday and later that day began the first of six practices. On Tuesday, tight ends Mit Cole and Keith Zinger, cornerback Jonathan Zenon and defensive end Kirston Pittman graduated. The first session of practice concluded on Saturday.

The team has three days off for Christmas.

The Tigers will practice on campus until Jan. 2 when it travels to New Orleans.

Although LSU is the away team, it will wear its traditional home white jerseys for the game.

As the higher-ranked team, Ohio State got first choice in selecting its jersey color for the national championship contest and the Buckeyes opted for their home color of scarlet. The Buckeyes will wear gray pants.

With Ohio State picking the dark jersey color, the Tigers will now get to wear their traditional “home” white jerseys for the contest. LSU has worn white jerseys in seven straight bowl games, including all three of its Sugar Bowl appearances this decade.

The last time LSU wore a color other than white in a bowl game came in 2000 when the purple-clad Tigers posted a 28-14 win over Georgia Tech in the Peach Bowl.

The white home jersey tradition originated when LSU won its first national championship in 1958. Head coach Paul Dietzel had a habit of tinkering with the uniform every year.

In 1958, he chose to wear white jerseys for LSU’s home games, and the Tigers subsequently won the national championship.

A superstitious man, Dietzel didn’t change the uniform after that season. LSU continued to wear white jerseys for home games throughout the Charlie McClendon Era. When Jerry Stovall took over as head coach in 1980, he said the Tigers would occasionally wear purple jerseys so that home fans could see a different color.

In 1982, the NCAA changed its jersey rule, requiring teams to wear dark colored jerseys for home games. The Tigers wore purple jerseys for all home games from 1983 to 1994. When Gerry DiNardo became head coach in 1995, he vowed to change the NCAA jersey rules.

After petitioning the rules committee of the American Football Coaches Association, he personally met with each member of the NCAA Football Rules Committee. DiNardo’s efforts were successful and the Tigers were allowed to wear white jerseys again beginning in 1995.

A stipulation of the new rule was that the visiting team would have to give the home team permission to wear the white jerseys.

The first team to deny LSU’s request was DiNardo’s former team, Vanderbilt.

Instead of going back to purple jerseys, the Tigers took to the field in new gold jerseys.

The SEC later adopted a league rule stipulating that the home team has sole discretion in determining its jersey color.

Nick Saban became LSU’s head coach in 2000 and continued the white jersey tradition, but with a twist.

Saban decided that LSU would wear purple jerseys for all non-SEC games, except the home opener, a trend that current LSU coach Les Miles has continued.

MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM FALLS TO WITCHITA STATE

The Tigers shot a dismal 32 percent from the field and were blown out, 67-47, on Wednesday night in Witchita, Kan.

LSU (6-4) was also outrebounded 44-28. Marcus Thornton led the Tigers with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Terry Martin added 11 points.

LADY TIGERS OUTLAST MIAMI

Sylvia Fowles tied the school record with her 68th career double-double to lead the No. 8 LSU women’s basketball team past a feisty Miami (Fla.) team, 63-52, in the final game of the 2007 Caribbean Classic last Wednesday in Cancun, Mexico.

LSU (9-2) wrapped up the school’s first athletics trip to Mexico with a second victory in as many days.

Fowles scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to tie former Lady Tigers great Julie Gross’s (1977-80) double doubles record in 11 fewer games played.

Quianna Chaney led LSU with 16 points. Erica White and Allison Hightower each scored nine points.

LSU blasted last week Illinois-Chicago, 86-44. In that contest, Fowles had 17 points and eight rebounds. Chaney added 14 points, while Allison Hightower chimed in with 13 points. Ashley Thomas also contributed 10 points for the Lady Tigers.