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BATON ROUGE, La. -- Perhaps its only fitting that there should be a figurative elephant in the room at LSU football headquarters during Alabama week.Interim Tigers coach Ed Orgeron shows no interest in discussing how significant Saturday nights clash with No. 1 Alabama could be for his coaching future -- and legacy.Thats way out there, man. I aint going to think about that. The focus is about these players, the LSU family, Orgeron said in his distinctive, raspy, baritone voice on Monday. These next four weeks are going to pass fast. My job is to do the best thing I can do for this team today, let the chips fall where they may. Everything else is going to take care of itself.LSU has been silent on whether Orgeron is viewed by administrators as a serious candidate to take over permanently for Les Miles, who was fired in late September after LSU lost to Auburn and fell to 2-2. As a tradition-rich program in a talent-rich state -- not to mention its premier practice facilities and legendary, 102,000-seat Tiger Stadium -- LSU can offer about as plum a head coaching job as there is in college football. There should be interest from numerous top coaches with resumes superior to that of Orgeron, who went 6-2 as an interim coach at Southern California and never finished above .500 in three seasons in charge at Mississippi.At the same time, Orgeron, a south Louisiana native, has made no secret that being the head coach at LSU is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream and he has no interest in going anywhere else.If he beats Bama -- the age-old LSU nemesis with the elephant logo -- he just might stick. LSU, now ranked 15th, is trying to end a five-game losing streak against Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.Obviously, if we win this game, its huge for his coaching resume, tight end Colin Jeter said. Were going to do everything we can as players to get our job done and play for him, because, I mean, hes one of the best players coaches Ive ever had. He does a phenomenal job of making guys happy and making guys motivated to work.Orgeron, a charismatic Cajun, was already popular among Louisiana football fans and high school coaches. That was one of the reasons Miles hired him as defensive line coach two years ago, and then chose Orgeron to fill a recruiting coordinator vacancy after last season.When athletic director Joe Alleva fired Miles, Orgeron was the logical interim choice in terms of galvanizing a dissatisfied fan base behind the program for the duration of this season. But its unlikely the behind-the-scenes power brokers who helped pay Miles $9.6 million buyout had Orgeron in mind as a permanent successor. Houstons Tom Herman and Florida States Jimbo Fisher -- if available -- might be more preferred choices among those with the greatest influence.So far, however, LSUs recent performances have kept Orgeron in the running. LSU has won all three games since he took over, and impressively so.LSU has scored an average of nearly 42 points per game during that span, during which the Tigers have hit on big plays in the passing game from quarterback Danny Etling, and long runs by Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice.LSUs defense has yet to allow more than two TDs in a game all season, and might have had its best game in its last outing against Ole Miss, when the Rebels -- who scored 43 points against Alabama -- failed to score 30 points for first time this season in a 38-21 loss to the Tigers.All I can see is whats happened on the field. His leadership obviously has had some effect on that, Saban said Monday when asked about Orgeron. The team seems to be playing with a lot of energy and a lot of confidence. Theyve executed really well and havent made a lot of mistakes. I just feel like in the last three games theyve played really, really well.Orgeron repeatedly has been telling Tigers players that the team is theirs, that they deserve the credit for recent results and that its not about the coach, LSU defensive back Donte Jackson said.He doesnt want us to play any game for him. He wants us to come play for the state, for the university, for ourselves, for our families, before we even think about him, Jackson said. Thats what really makes him a great guy. Thats what really makes us want to actually go out there and play for him.---AP Sports Writer John Zenor in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, contributed to this report.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org Noah Syndergaard Jersey . LOUIS -- St. Mike Piazza Mets Jersey . 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NEW YORK -- John Calipari sounded like a typical college student. He cant wait for finals to be over. Hes not thinking winter vacation, though. Hes thinking basketball. All basketball.I am so happy because Wednesday will be our last finals. I dont have to worry about anything academically, Calipari said after No. 6 Kentucky beat Hofstra 96-73 on Sunday.Well go 29 straight days, four-a-days. Nothing to worry about except basketball. Right now we got to get through Wednesday. Theyre off tomorrow, get through these finals, but we just have a lot of work to do.Malik Monk scored 20 points, Isaiah Briscoe had 19 and Kentucky took control with a 26-3 run spanning halftime to beat the Pride in the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival at Barclays Center.DeAaron Fox had 15 points and Bam Adebayo added 14 for Kentucky (9-1). The Wildcats closed the first half on a 12-0 run and opened the second with a 14-3 spurt to go ahead 62-36 with 16 minutes to play.We came out. We were playing good defense. The other team was making shots, Briscoe said. We kept calm knowing sooner or later well get into their legs and theyll start to get tired and well make our run. Right before halftime we did that.The Pride (6-5), who came in having won four of five, stayed with the Wildcats for 16 minutes, trailing 36-33 with 4 minutes left in the first half. Deron Powers had 18 points for Hofstra in the first meeting between the schools.When I walked off the floor to locker room, I said to my staff that Id love to have the last 3 minutes of the first half back, Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich said. The last three minutes of the first half and the first 4 minutes of the second half was a 26-3 run and that was the difference in the game.Monk had seven of the points in the 12-0 run and Adebayo had six in the 14-3 run. Kentucky started dominating inside, finishing with a 48-28 advantage in the paint, and on the perimeter, shooting 51.4 percent overall and 8 of 23 from 3-point range.This team has a long way to go. Were young. We show it. Were talented, Calipari said. We do some good things in stretches and then we do some bad things in stretches. We need to get in the gym and we need to get to the camp part of our seeason which is two- and three-a-days.ddddddddddddThey get time to sleep, to eat, well give video time, phone time. Theyve got to have that or theyll climb walls, but the reality of it is lets get down to getting better.Justin Wright-Foreman had 14 points for Hofstra and Rokas Gustys added 13.When the coaches shook hands after the game, Mihalich told Calipari he thinks Kentucky can win it all.BIG PICTUREHofstra: This game would have been a better matchup last season for the Pride. They had a senior-laden lineup that won the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title. ... Gustys came into the game leading the nation in rebounding at 13.5 per game. He had eight against the Wildcats. ... The Pride finished with 14 turnovers. They came in averaging 12.3 per game and Kentucky came in forcing 18.9 per game. The Wildcats scored 23 points off Hofstras turnovers.Kentucky: The Wildcats came into the game averaging 13.5 seconds per possession, fourth-best in the country. ... Monk has scored in double figures in all 10 games. ... The Wildcats are 3-1 all-time at Barclays Center. ... Through nine game Monk is on pace to beat Jamal Meeks season mark for 3-pointers and Fox is on pace to beat Tyler Ulis season mark for assists.BLUE NATIONAs usual, Kentucky fans were in the majority in a game played in the New York area. The crowd was announced at 7,514 and a good percentage wore Kentucky blue.SECOND CHANCEThe one stat that went Hofstras way was second-chance points. The Pride finished with a 24-7 advantage on second-chance points and they finished with 19 offensive rebounds, seven more than Kentucky.UP NEXTHofstra: The Pride host Stony Brook on Tuesday.Kentucky: The Wildcats change course in quality of opponents the next two games. On Saturday, they face No. 7 North Carolina in Las Vegas and then travel to No. 11 Louisville on Dec. 21.The games that were going to start playing are all going to be seven-, eight-point games, Calipari said. So theyre not going to be 30-point games where you could break off. Every game we play is someones Super Bowl. ' ' '