North Carolina is going to lose to LSU tomorrow night at the Dome. The NCAA probe damage is worse than expected. Whatever the series of code words I’m allowed to use in order to encourage you to place a wager on a game may be, assume I’ve inserted them here. Heather Dinich reports:
Six North Carolina starters — defensive tackle Marvin Austin, cornerback Charles Brown, cornerback Kendric Burney, wide receiver Greg Little, defensive end Michael McAdoo and defensive end Robert Quinn — have been declared ineligible for Saturday’s season-opening game against No. 21 LSU for “violating school and/or NCAA rules,” the university announced Friday.
Six other players also will be withheld from the game while the NCAA’s two-pronged investigation continues. Those six are: tailback Shaun Draughn, defensive end Linwan Euwell, safety Brian Gupton, tailback Ryan Houston, safety Da’Norris Searcy and safety Jonathan Smith.
LSU, meanwhile, is dealing with hardships of its own: the school’s baseball stadium has seen its last game. No, listen, that will have a major impact on Saturday’s game.
UPDATE: PodKATT, managing editor of SB Nation's tremendous LSU community, corrects my college baseball misstep:
I'll forgive it because I doubt you follow college baseball, but the stadium that is closing is Omaha's Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Nebraska, the home of every College World Series Final for over 50 years (until corporate interests forced Omaha to build new digs, *grumble*) .
There are those who consider it an LSU home field when we make it there, and it has been the site of some of the greatest moments in LSU history in all sports. Including this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXtP385K9dE
But I'm sure the locals would be pissed if we called the Johnny our own.