When the LSU basketball team takes the floor Saturday for its first game of the year, the Tigers won’t just be opening their season — they’ll be the opening act for an LSU sports doubleheader.
LSU’s noon tipoff against Nicholls State will be followed by the Tiger football team’s homecoming tilt with Western Kentucky at 6 p.m.
It’s just the second time in the history of the programs the basketball and football teams will play at home on the same day, and it’s the first premeditated doubleheader.
In 2008, LSU played its season opener against Jackson State on the same day the football team narrowly defeated Troy.
But Hurricane Gustav wreaked havoc on LSU’s football schedule that season, and the doubleheader was an accidental consequence of the changes, as the Jackson State game was originally slated on football’s open date.
According to Kent Lowe, LSU’s senior associate sports information director, the twin bill was more of a necessity than a conscious effort, but he said the extra fans on campus could only be an added benefit to the home crowd.
“With [home] volleyball matches on Friday and Sunday and the fact we need to play this game before we head out on the road Tuesday, we almost had no choice but to play it [Saturday],” Lowe said. “Certainly, if the fans like what they see, it could boost attendance down the matter.”
 
____
Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]