ESPN’s College GameDay is heading to Baton Rouge this weekend for a huge match-up between the LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide.
Tiger Stadium is one of the best scenes in all of college sports, and things are expected to get crazy on Saturday night as 11th-ranked Alabama look to escape with a win against their 15th-ranked hosts in a game that could have huge ramifications for the College Football Playoff.
There will no doubt be fireworks on the field, and it looks like ESPN and LSU will be pulling out all the stops off it, too.
On Saturday, the university will honour 22 former and current student-athletes who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
One of those who will take in the acclaim is Armand Duplantis.
Regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time, Duplantis is the world outdoor and indoor record holder, and a two-time Olympic champion. He also showed his speed in a 100m exhibition race.
At only 24-years-old, he has an incredible 19 gold medals to his name, having competed in the World Athletics Championships, the Diamond League and the European Championships, as well as two Olympics.
He won his first Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, before defending his crown three years later.
The American-born Sweden pole vaulter attended Louisiana State University after graduating high school in 2018, though he left after his first year in order to turn professional.
Despite a short Collegiate career, he still won an SEC championship and placed second in the pole vault at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 2019 season.
Duplantis will be honoured alongside fellow Paris 2024 gold medal winners Vernon Norwood and Sha’Carri Richardson.
They won the men’s and women’s 4 x 400m relay respectively.
All in all, LSU athletes secured eight medals at the 2024 Games.
Meanwhile, this week’s ESPN College GameDay guest picker segment will feature LSU gymnastics star Livvy Dunne and her boyfriend Paul Skenes, who is an MLB pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The role, which is often handed to a different famous name each week, will involve the couple sitting on the panel with the other analysts, predicting the scores for a series of college football games on the Saturday slate.
Dunne becomes both the first female college athlete to serve as the guest picker and the first athlete at all during the NIL (name, image, and likeness) era to do so.
Thanks to her ever growing brand and deals, the latest being with Jake Paul, she is worth an estimated $9.5 million which has set her up for life after college.
After helping LSU women win their first national gymnastics championship earlier this year, as well as racking up more than five million Instagram followers of her own, Dunne is undoubtedly a campus celebrity.
She is now in her final year and attempting to win back-to-back rings and earn another ring.
Skenes, meanwhile, won the College World Series in 2023 and will no doubt receive a hero’s welcome when he arrives back.
