| LSU women's basketball is back, in a manner of speaking. The reigning NCAA champions and preseason No. 1-ranked team plays its first of two exhibition games Thursday night against East Texas Texas Baptist. The game tips at 7 p.m. in the PMAC. Leading LSU onto the floor will be All-American forward Angel Reese. She's had an express elevator ride to stardom since her arrival from Maryland before last season, becoming not just the biggest star on LSU's team but one of the biggest stars in all of sports. Reed Darcey takes us inside the entire Angel Reese experience, and asks whether or not she might return to LSU for the 2024-25 season. By the way, if you want to own a piece of the court LSU won the national championship on, we've got the info for you right here. We can shift the spotlight away from football for a bit since the Tigers have their only open date of the season this week before traveling to Alabama on Nov. 4. When they do, LSU will really be operating at a cornerback deficit at the worst possible time, I wrote in my column. LSU may be short of cornerbacks when it takes on the Crimson Tide, but what about the status of right tackle Emory Jones? LSU coach Brian Kelly had an update Wednesday, which also turned out to be his 62nd birthday. The Tigers might be idle Saturday but there's still plenty of college football action around the country on the last playing date of October. Our Sheldon Mickles gives you his top five tilts for this LSU-less weekend. Finally, former LSU swimmer Maggie Mac Neil of Canada became one of the stars of the Pan American Games this week in Santiago, Chile. The 2020 Olympic gold medalist set and tied records with her performance in the pool, setting the stage for another run at gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics. That's all for today, folks. Thanks for reading, subscribing and just being the Angel Reese of followers. We appreciate you and will see you next time. Scott Rabalais | 