BATON ROUGE, La. — As Mike the Tiger slept, kids and parents crowded into a corner to get a close look at Louisiana State's mascot in his large, enclosed sanctuary yesterday.

Elsewhere around campus, broken tree limbs were being sawed off huge oak trees, cleanup crews gathered smaller fallen branches into piles and trucks carrying workers and toting away the mess left by Hurricane Rita made up the bulk of the traffic.

The day before LSU's long-awaited home opener, Baton Rouge was hot and windy, but for the most part dry and recovering from the second hurricane to slam into Louisiana in less than a month.

Erin Larmann, like most of the people around here, looks at the No. 4 Tigers' game against No. 10 Tennessee today — a contest pushed back two days because of Hurricane Rita — as part of that recovery.

"I definitely think it's about time," said Larmann, who was forced out of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina and has been staying with friends in Baton Rouge. She and her family got out unharmed. "Everybody is looking for something to celebrate about — celebrating how fortunate we've all been."

Not far away, the American flag flew at half-staff for those who have not been as fortunate.

LSU has played a mere one game because of Katrina and Rita. Three times the Tigers had their home opener delayed by storms that pounded Louisiana's Gulf Coast and sent thousands seeking shelter in the state's capitol.

The only game the Tigers played, they won 35-31 over Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. That game on Sept. 10 was supposed to be played at Tiger Stadium. But then the LSU campus was housing thousands of evacuees, and being used as a staging area for relief workers.

Slowly, the campus has returned to something approaching normal.

"We served a role there," LSU athletic-department spokesman Michael Bonnette said. "We did our part in trying to help through a difficult time, but since we've kind of come back to a normal state. School's in and things are the way they are supposed to be."

Crews are expected to continue clearing debris, but Bonnette said they should finish before fans start arriving.

Michigan exits poll

The winningest team in the history of the sport is unranked for the first time in more than seven years.

Michigan fell out of The Associated Press Top 25, ending a streak of 114 straight weeks in the rankings, which was the longest in the nation. The last poll that didn't include the Wolverines was Oct. 18, 1998.

USC extended its record streak of No. 1 rankings to 23 in the latest media poll.

Michigan (2-2) lost 23-20 at Wisconsin on Saturday. The Wolverines' wins came against Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan of the Mid-American Conference. Their other loss was to Notre Dame. Michigan started the season ranked No. 4.

No. 9 Miami has the longest current poll streak, 93 weeks.

The USA Today coaches poll had the same top five as the AP poll, with USC, Texas, Virginia Tech, LSU and Florida.

The first Harris Interactive College Football poll was also released yesterday. The Harris poll is voted on by a panel of former coaches, players and administrators, plus some media. It will replace the AP poll in the Bowl Championship Series standings formula.

The Harris poll's top five was slightly different from the other polls, with the same first three (USC, Texas, Virginia Tech), and Florida fourth and LSU fifth.

Note

• In most installments of the Michigan-Michigan State game, Michigan entered as a Big Ten favorite and Michigan State served as a lowly speed bump that threatened to derail another great Wolverines season.

But this time, No. 11 Michigan State (4-0) is a four-point favorite over visiting Michigan.

"I'm looking forward to playing them," Spartans quarterback Drew Stanton said with a trace of a smile.