But no one will care about academic standards when LSU plays in a BCS bowl ! No one!
Most of the people actually affiliated with LSU will care about academics - the faculty, the students, and their parents.
In my senior year, our team (neither LSU nor UM) went to the final four in basketball. I was a big basketball fan, so I was very excited about it, but almost none of the faculty and very few of the other students seemed to care much. They were much more concerned with academics. I was actually pretty disappointed that I had trouble finding anyone who was particularly interested in talking about the success of the team.
I know a couple of professors at UM, and I would be very surprised if either one could tell me what the Canes' record in football was this year. I'm not even sure they could tell me that the team is called the "Hurricanes" or that the mascot is an ibis. I know several students at UM, and their interest in football is tepid at best. They have, as they would see it, much bigger fish to fry trying to get A's in their courses.
I am a big football fan, as are most of the people browsing this site. But if you think everybody else is, you're wrong. Most women and lots of men just don't care. I live in a condominium complex. People here are into their kids, their pets, their possessions, politics, gossip, etc. Football - not so much.