Thanks to LSU and Ole Miss, it's refreshing to see the focus of divisiveness in college football back on the field. And Lane Kiffin is partially to thank.
Whether through arguments over NIL, the transfer portal, eligibility, or political network appearances, the NCAA and its subsidiaries have done everything they can to take the focus away from what matters most in their product: the game.
Despite attempts to cloud the excitement that college football fans live for every Saturday, this week's LSU Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels game finally recentralizes the attention on what actually matters.
Sure, the 8:30 p.m. ET matchup in Oxford, Miss. carries a lot of baggage.
Former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin left the Rebels and their fans heartbroken during a College Football Playoff run to pursue his next endeavor as the head coach of one of the largest collegiate brands. The fiery nature of his return as LSU head football coach is shrouded in resentment.
So much so, that false rumors of the National Guard being deployed to ensure as peaceful an evening as possible as the teams finally square off began to swirl.
Regardless of all of that; the talk, the rumors, the discourse - all of it, the most impactful factor of it all that college football fans will be able to enjoy will be what happens between the lines at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The clash between Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and LSU Defensive Coordinator Blake Baker. The battle between LSU passer Sam Leavitt and Ole Miss Head Coach Pete Golding's defense. The emotional charge for former Rebels now donning the purple and gold threads of the Tigers.
Try as the NCAA might to minimize what's most important about its best sports product, what will be most in focus Saturday night will finally be the game.
It's become easy to bicker, bite and scratch over intrusive discourse, frivolous lawsuits and empty threats of expulsion. It can be simple to lose the plot amidst the weaponization of insults, legislation and think pieces.
But what cannot be abused nor denied is the true passion for the sport that 64,000 in attendance and millions watching from home will express for at least 60 minutes of game time once toe meets leather for the opening kickoff.
Leave alone the grandstanding and welcome instead the pinnacle of entertainment.
While some put forth their efforts to enforce the perfect rule to create the perfect sport, they need only look about them. Saturday night's LSU at Ole Miss showdown has the makings of a classic. The rest is nothing more than noise and distraction from what every fan awaits as each weekend approaches: the action.
Rather than combing through all of the aberrations that cloud the destination, it's time to enjoy the fruits of the audience's emotional labor on a night to remember in Oxford.
The spectacle off the field is nothing in comparison to the on the gridiron.
