The sun will soon find its home in the western sky, and it will be Tuesday evening in the PMAC. 
That’s a corny start, but for the first sellout in more than five years, nothing is over-the-top.
By now, you know what’s happening. No. 1 Kentucky is coming to Baton Rouge to face the LSU basketball team for a game carrying more weight than any other in the Tigers’ recent history for a number of reasons.
For starters, you get your classic “David vs. Goliath” theme.
Big bad Kentucky, the king of Southeastern Conference basketball, is running through its schedule. The Wildcats are the last undefeated team at 23-0. They’ve thwarted two teams currently in the top 10 — No. 8 Kansas and No. 9 Louisville, defeated the Puerto Rican national team reserves twice and split an exhibition series with the Dominican Republic. 
With National Signing Day last week, everybody loves looking at stars. So here’s each team’s active five-star players, according to 247sports.com.
LSU: Jarell Martin.
Kentucky: Marcus Lee, Devin Booker, Aaron Harrison, Tyler Ulis, Andrew Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns, Trey Lyles and Dakari Johnson.
Holy talent gap, Batman.
Those lists don’t include one of the nation’s best players, Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein, and one of the best defensive players in the country, LSU’s Jordan Mickey. Talent-wise, Kentucky overwhelmingly outmatches the hometown team.
But the anti-LSU narratives don’t stop there.
The Tigers are 3-15 all-time against the No. 1 team in the AP Poll. The most recent win came against Duke in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2006 NCAA
Tournament en route to an eventual Final Four appearance. The most recent home win against the nation’s No. 1 team was 2002 against Arizona, 66-65.
But this game isn’t over until it’s over — or before it’s even played. This is the same sport where George Mason made the Final Four and Duke fell to
Lehigh in the last decade. 
Anything is possible, and that’s an atmosphere Baton Rouge strives in.
On Feb. 11, 1978, LSU got its first win over No. 1 when it defeated Kentucky in Baton Rouge. The 14,551 people packed into the PMAC watched Dale Brown’s Tigers prevail, 95-94. It was a knockdown, drag out fight, featuring 65 fouls and LSU’s entire starting five fouling out. The Tigers walked out winners on the shoulders of LSU great Rudy Macklin.
The ultimate narrative for this game is an encore performance of the game almost 37 years ago to the day. 
Martin and Mickey can contend with any combination of big men Kentucky throws out there. In bench and guard play, the Tigers need three or four to be above their play all season to compete.
The will to win is more overrated than anything in sports, but it’s what LSU needs to succeed. Last Saturday against Alabama, coach Johnny Jones changed the lineup to get more passion and intensity from his players. The Tigers responded with a win, but the passion and intensity in the PMAC wasn’t there.
But the passion and the intensity will never be higher that it will be tonight. This program hasn’t seen a game this big in a long time, or at least since I can remember. The buzz for this game started in December. Everytime Kentucky comes on TV, I hear the same thing from fans: “Just wait until they come to Baton Rouge.”
Now, you get your chance. 
This team and this fanbase can climb the basketball mountain and put LSU’s flag on top of the basketball world. You wanted your chance to prove that coming to Baton Rouge as a favorite isn’t as easy as Alabama football makes it look. 
Call in sick. Quit your job. Get fired. Skip class. Do whatever you need to do to get to the PMAC before this ridiculous 6 p.m. tipoff. Get loud and drunk like it’s Saturday night in Tiger Stadium.
When it’s over, Joe Alleva may need to reopen the check books for the court storming.
Brian Pellerin is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Kenner, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Pellerin_TDR.