The LSU Tigers and Wisconsin Badgers faced off in a gritty football matchup last season, but this spring has the two universities fending off a common  villain: GOP presidential candidates.
Presidential hopefuls Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal are solving their self-induced budget woes with cuts to higher education. Walker’s $300 million proposed cuts over the next two years is a shy comparison to Jindal’s immediate and previous cuts that simply refuse to stop stacking up.
The GOP field of presidential hopes and dreams reeks of past and present political blunders paired with a lack of unity among Republicans nationwide. 
Despite the Republicans’ successful 2014 midterm elections strategy to run against President Obama a third time, the GOP squeals in agony as Tea Party Republicans and traditional, moderate Republicans yank the party’s legs in opposite directions.
Jeb Bush, who leads the GOP field of presidential candidates, splits from his Republican colleagues by supporting comprehensive immigration reform and          Common Core.  
Bush’s moderate conservative views echo those of Mitt Romney and John McCain, the past two unsuccessful GOP presidential  nominees.
The difference between Bush and the previous moderate nominees is McCain and Romney both shifted their ideologies to the right for the Republican primaries.  Taking a stand in support of Common Core and immigration reform might be popular general election strategies, but may prove disastrous for Bush’s fight to receive the GOP nomination.
Scott Walker is surging in the polls by “punting” questions on evolution, cutting higher education and fighting labor unions. 
Behind him follows a cowering Marco Rubio (thanks to Bush’s       announcement to run). This Cuban-American unequivocally supports the free market, unless it’s Cuba.
GOP primary debates might qualify for an Emmy award this year with the return of Texas Gov. Rick Perry. 
America’s favorite cowboy loses the boots and returns to the political battleground with some reading glasses from the nearest Urban Outfitters and his intelligence soaring through the roof. Now he can remember all three federal agencies he wants to eliminate.
The persistent little old man, Ron Paul, gave the torch of presidential campaigns to his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, with the hope that Rand could actually stand a chance at winning the nomination. 
Rand Paul’s success in these early stages surpasses his father’s, but may have nowhere else to go but downhill.
All seemed well for the Kentucky senator until he chimed in on vaccines.  
“I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines,” Paul said.
Following intense backlash, Paul  tweeted a photo of himself receiving a booster vaccination, stating, “Wonder how the liberal media will misreport this?”  
Paul is backpedaling away from his stance on vaccines with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie by his side.
Christie, another presidential hopeful whose poll numbers are suffering as of late, stated parents should have “a  measure of choice” in deciding whether to vaccinate their children. 
Like Paul, Christie later immediately ran backward, releasing a statement that parents should vaccinate their children for diseases like measles.
Ted Cruz led the crusade to shut down the government. He held the political process hostage.  
Cruz cannot be the leader of the body of power he hates so much. It would be like Ron Swanson becoming president. President Swanson may be great on television, but not so much in real life.
Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon, has risen in the polls, but he does not hold the political background required to garner the finances to make a legitimate run.
Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum hold the religious right in their hands, making Bobby Jindal’s chances of making it to the top five candidates close to impossible.  
Jindal wants the best of both worlds: He wants to lead the religious right while leading the policy wonks.  But he can’t hold either with the current field of potential candidates.
The Republican field is overflowing with candidates, while the Democratic field consists of only one: Hillary Clinton.  
Talk of Elizabeth Warren shut down when the Massachusetts  senator announced she would not run in 2016. 
The Democratic field of candidates is void of competition, unlike the red elephants across the aisle.
When debate season comes around, pop some popcorn, sit on the couch and prepare yourself for the circus of candidates that will inhabit your TV screens. 
It’s going to be a long campaign season.
Justin DiCharia is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Slidell, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @JDiCharia.