Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote has said he will attempt to purchase Arsenal in 2021.

The Nigerian billionaire has long been linked with a move for the Gunners, who are owned by American billionaire Stan Kroenke as part of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE).

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"It is a team that yes I would like to buy some day, but what I keep saying today is we have $20 billion worth of projects and that's what I really want to concentrate on," Dangote told the David Rubenstein Show.

"I'm trying to finish building the company and then after we finish, maybe some time in 2021 we can.

"I'm not buying Arsenal right now, I'm buying Arsenal when I finish all these projects, because I'm trying to take the company to the next level."

KSE have been criticised by Arsenal supporters in recent times with the side struggling to challenge at the top of the Premier League and failing to qualify for the Champions League.

However, KSE director Josh Kroenke said they were committed to returning Arsenal to the top level.

"Our ambitions are silverware," he said. "Silverware and trophies. I think anything short of that is not a success.

"There are certain things that you have to do to lay foundations to achieve those goals, and I think we've done that over the past 12 to 14 months.

"From our coaching staff to our management, there have been significant changes that have gone on and I'm really excited to let those foundations continue to grow and take shape to build a successful future for Arsenal."

Manchester United are forecast to drop to their lowest-ever position in Deloitte's Money League for 2019-20 as Barcelona became only the third team-ever to top the chart.

The Catalan club became the first club to break the €800 million barrier in 2018-19, with a revenue of €840.8m for the campaign. Real Madrid, the 2017-18 leaders, dropped to second with a revenue of €757.3m.

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United were third with €711.5m, but are at risk of losing their position as the highest-ranking Premier League club for 2019-20 as forecasts show failure to qualify for the Champions League could result in their lowest Money League position ever. Manchester City (€610.6m) and Liverpool (€604.7m) are closing in.

Bayern Munich (€660.1m) were fourth, while Paris Saint-Germain (€635.9m) came in fifth. Tottenham (€521.1m) earned their highest-ever ranking of eighth, with Arsenal (€445.6m) having dropped from ninth to 11th.

"The impact of participation and performance in UEFA club competitions on revenue is evident in London and the north west, with the rise of Liverpool, Manchester City and Spurs driven by reaching the Champions League knockout stages," Sports Business group at Deloitte senior manager Sam Boor said.

"The relative decline of Arsenal is a direct result of not participating in the competition for a second consecutive season, a fate that may also befall Manchester United."

Boor also highlighted leaders Barcelona as the club others should follow in order to adapt to football's changing landscape.

"Barca is a clear example of a club adapting to changing market conditions, reducing the reliance on broadcast revenue and focussing on growing revenues within its control," he added.

"The club's commercial operation generated €383.5m of revenue, which is more than the total revenue of the 12th placed club in this year's Money League.

"With the club expecting further growth of €30m in commercial revenues and total revenue of almost €880m in 2019-20 we expect them to retain the top spot in next year's edition. Barca is on course to achieve its stated ambition to be the first €1 billion Money League club in years to come."

Top 20

1. Barcelona €840.8m
2. Real Madrid €757.3m
3. Manchester United €711.5m
4. Bayern Munich €660.1m
5. Paris Saint-Germain €635.9m
6. Manchester City €610.6m
7. Liverpool €604.7m
8. Tottenham €521.1m
9. Chelsea €513.1m
10. Juventus €459.7m
11. Arsenal €445.6m
12. Borussia Dortmund €377.1m
13. Atletico Madrid €367.6m
14. Inter Milan €364.6m
15. Schalke €324.8m
16. Roma €231m
17. Lyon €220.8m
18. West Ham €216.4m
19. Everton €213m
20. Napoli €207.4m

MANCHESTER -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Mason Greenwood to forget about speculation surrounding a call-up for this summer's European Championship and concentrate on scoring goals for Manchester United.

Greenwood has already scored nine goals in his breakthrough season at Old Trafford to raise the prospect of the 19-year-old earning a place in the England squad for Euro 2020.

Gareth Southgate is sweating on the fitness of captain Harry Kane after the Tottenham striker underwent surgery on a torn hamstring but Solskjaer suggested it is still too soon to talk about Greenwood as a possible replacement.

"I think Mason will have a top and long career," Solskjaer said ahead of United's FA Cup third-round replay at home to Wolves.

"Let the boy settle first before we talk about England and the Euros. His focus has to be on playing more for us, improving and when he plays more for us that will happen by itself.

"He's just been picked for [England] U21s so he's focusing on his football."

Greenwood is in line to start against Wolves at Old Trafford on Wednesday after coming off the bench to score in the 4-0 win over Norwich on Saturday.

Ashley Young is still not available amid speculation he could quit the club for Inter Milan but Eric Bailly is close to a return after five months out with a knee injury.

The centre-back will play for the reserves on Tuesday and could return to the squad for the trip to Liverpool on Sunday.

"It's our 14th game in 45 days," Solskjaer said.

"We've still got five or six games before the winter break -- it's relentless -- 18 games in 63 days which is physically and mentally demanding.

"We have to energise them. Bad results have to be used as a motivation, as in we're not there yet need to keep improving. We just need the rhythm. When I was playing I felt we got rhythm of match, rest, match, rest."

Solskjaer has just over two weeks to add to his squad before the close of the January transfer window.

Sources have told ESPN that United have held talks with Sporting Lisbon about the possibility of signing midfielder Bruno Fernandes but an agreement with the Portuguese side is yet to be reached.

"I've got no transfer updates," Solskjaer said.

"If we get something that we can tell you about we will but I've got no news now."

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Meanwhile, United are forecast to drop to their lowest-ever position in Deloitte's Money League for 2019-20. United were third with €711.5 million, but are at risk of losing their position as the highest-ranking Premier League club for 2019-20 as forecasts show failure to qualify for the Champions League could result in their lowest Money League position ever. Manchester City (€610.6m) and Liverpool (€604.7m) are closing in.

But Solskjaer added: "For me, the most important thing is we get results sorted, get performances on the pitch, that's got to be my focus. I know we've got the resources, we've got the backing if we need to go into the transfer market. We are still up there, so we are still in a good place."

AB de Villiers has confirmed he is considering "throwing his name in the hat" for an international comeback at the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year following constructive talks with the new leadership in South Africa.

Late last year captain Faf du Plessis revealed conversations had already begun about whether de Villiers could return following his retirement in May 2018. Now de Villiers has said "hopefully I'll be involved as well pretty soon" having been encouraged by the appointment of former team-mates Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith as coach and director of cricket following major upheaval in Cricket South Africa.

"There's a lot that needs to happen before that becomes reality, I would love to," de Villers told reporters after making his BBL debut for the Brisbane Heat on Tuesday. "I've been talking to Bouch, Graeme Smith and Faf back home. We are all keen to make it happen, it's a long way away still and plenty can happen - there's the IPL coming, I've still got to be in form at that time. I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping everything will work out.

"It's not a guarantee, I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, play the best possible cricket I can and we'll see what happens towards the end of the year."

ALSO READ: de Villiers feeling 'some of the best form of my career'

De Villiers had attempted to engineer a return for last year's World Cup but the selectors decided he had made his pitch too late and it risked disruption to the side. South Africa ended up having a torrid World Cup where they never threatened to make the semi-finals.

The fact that three former team-mates are now at the helm of the men's team appears to have paved the way for far more positive discussions.

"It doesn't mean everything is going to be sunshine and roses but it's definitely a lot easier and feels comfortable, the language that's being used and the feel everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," de Villiers said. "They are my friends, I played 10-plus years with them, so we've been through a lot and great to have them involved again. Hopefully I'll be involved as well pretty soon."

Last month, du Plessis said: "People want AB to play and I am no different. Those conversations have been happening for two or three months already: what does it look like, how does it look over the next year, and that's where it starts."

Moeen Ali will join an England Lions camp in Loughborough on Wednesday ahead of their upcoming tour to Australia.

Moeen, the offspinning allrounder whose most recent international appearance came in last summer's first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, declared himself unavailable for the ongoing Test series in South Africa, writing in his Guardian column that he was hoping to "freshen up" while away from the side.

He is expected to remain absent for the two-Test series in Sri Lanka this March, having signalled his intention to "see out" his contract with Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League, but his presence at Loughborough suggests that his relationship with the ECB remains very healthy.

He will travel to South Africa for the white-ball leg of England's tour at the end of the month, having been named in both the ODI and T20I squads.

Moeen will be joined at the Lions camp by Tim Bresnan, who played 23 Tests and 119 white-ball internationals for England between 2006 and 2015, with the pair asked to share their respective experiences of playing in Australia and adjusting to local conditions.

"I'd like to thank Tim and Moeen for their time this week at the camp," ECB performance director Mo Bobat said. "I'm sure the information and experience they can impart will be very useful to many members of our squad as they look to hone their games to Australian conditions."

The ECB has also confirmed that Lewis Gregory, the Somerset allrounder, will captain the Lions for both the 50-over and four-day legs of their tour, which starts later this month.

Gregory, who made his international debut during England's T20I series in New Zealand in November, is Somerset's T20 Blast captain, and has previously captained the Lions in white-ball cricket against Pakistan A last winter and in red-ball cricket against Australia A during the 2019 summer.

Tom Abell, his county team-mate, is vice-captain for the white-ball series, while Keaton Jennings - who is in line for a call-up to England's Test squad for their tour of Sri Lanka - will be Gregory's deputy in the four-day games.

Gregory said: "It's an honour to be chosen to captain the Lions again and I'm looking forward to what will be a great challenge in Australia. I can't wait to lead the team out at the iconic MCG against Australia A and try to lay a foundation for future England success Down Under across the whole tour.

"I'm fortunate to have some good experience around me, including Tom and Keaton - my vice-captains. It's important to have reliable people to turn to for advice, as well as players who have experience of playing in Australian conditions, such as Mason Crane, Craig Overton and Richard Gleeson.

"It promises to be a tough but rewarding tour and one that will help all of us improve our games in unfamiliar conditions."

Bobat added: "Lewis was an obvious choice to captain the Lions in Australia and I'm confident he'll bring out the best in our two squads. His previous experience leading the Lions shows that he commands the respect of his team-mates. Tom and Keaton will provide great support in the white and red-ball formats respectively."

Suranga Lakmal returned to Sri Lanka's Test squad after missing the tour of Pakistan due to dengue fever, while Kusal Perera has been dropped.

Despite having lost 1-0 in Pakistan, Sri Lanka made no other changes to the 15 that toured Rawalpindi and Karachi in December. This means that Lahiru Thirimanne remains in the squad, despite seemingly having lost his place in the XI to Oshada Fernando, while offspinner Dilruwan Perera also retains his place after having gone wicketless during the Pakistan series.

Young fast bowler Asitha Fernando, who was Lakmal's replacement on the tour of Pakistan, could not find a place. Pathum Nissanka, the highly-rated domestic opener for Nondescripts Cricket Club, has been overlooked as well.

Chief selector Asantha de Mel said his committee had dropped Kusal after consulting with new coach Mickey Arthur, who felt it was better for Kusal to remain in Sri Lanka and train for the white-ball series against West Indies in February, rather than tour Zimbabwe without getting a game.

"Most probably we will go with the same batting lineup [as we did in Karachi], with Angelo Mathews at four, Dinesh Chandimal at five, Dhananjaya de Silva at six and Niroshan Dickwella keeping," he told ESPNcricinfo. "Kusal has an issue with his hamstrings where he can't run around the field as much. And because Dickwella is the main keeper, we thought there was no point taking another keeper."

Kusal had struck Sri Lanka's innings of the year in 2019, his 153 not out in Durban earning global plaudits, but had had a poor series against New Zealand in August and September last year, in which he made 1, 23, 0 and 0. He was in the squad, but did not play a Test in Pakistan.

"Yes, Kusal can make 150s, but we needed someone who can occupy the crease, which is why we chose Thirimanne," de Mel said. "Thirimanne can also bat in the top order or as an opener." Thirimanne's batting average, however, is 22.64 after 68 innings.

The selection of 37-year-old Dilruwan was also informed by conversations with coach Arthur, de Mel said. Dilruwan had gone wicketless during the tour of Pakistan, and averaged 112.80 in 2019, taking only five wickets in seven innings. He had been the equal-fastest Sri Lanka bowler to 150 Test wickets (taking 36 Tests to get there, the same as Muttiah Muralitharan), and this, essentially, is why the selectors are giving him another opportunity.

"We have the England series at home coming up, and this Zimbabwe series is the test to see if he can still do the job," de Mel said. "If we dropped him now, we can't even look at him for the England series, so we'll see how he does in this series. In terms of offspinners, there's also no standout options aside from him."

Dilruwan will have left-arm orthodox spinner Lasith Embuldeniya and left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan to compete with in the squad. On the fast bowling front, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando have all been picked, in addition to Lakmal.

The first Test is set to start on January 19, and the second on January 27. Both matches are scheduled to be played in Harare.

Sri Lanka Test squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Oshada Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya De Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Lasith Embuldeniya, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal

Jack Leach is to fly home from England's tour of South Africa after failing to recover from illness. Leach, who arrived in the country as England's first-choice spinner, has not been able to bowl a competitive delivery on the tour after being taken ill ahead of the first warm-up match in Benoni in mid-December.

Leach was also taken ill in New Zealand in November. Originally described as a bout of gastroenteritis, it now transpires the episode deteriorated to the extent that he was suffering from sepsis. He was hospitalised for several days in Hamilton and has not bowled a ball in anger since the Mount Maunganui Test, which ended on November 25. He will leave South Africa on Thursday.

Leach's situation is complicated by his long history of Crohn's disease, which requires him to take immune suppressant medication. The England management are keen not to push him too hard in his recovery phase and risk any long-term health implications. While Leach currently appears healthy, and has been able to play a full-part in the last couple of training sessions, his fitness levels have not recovered to the extent where he could be considered for Test selection.

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The England management remain hopeful that Leach will be available for England's Test tour of Sri Lanka - the first Test starts in Galle on March 19, the first tour game on March 7 - but he must be considered a doubt at this stage.

"It has been an unfortunate time for Jack with illness and since the Test series in New Zealand six weeks ago, he hasn't been able to get 100% fit," England head coach Chris Silverwood said. "This has hampered his preparation in South Africa and despite his best endeavours he is not in a position to make himself available for selection for the final two Test matches.

"He is a great lad to have around the squad and his infectious personality and popularity will be missed. However, his focus has to be getting himself better and receiving the optimum levels of recovery and treatment, which is best served back in England without any distractions.

"I have no doubt that he will return to full fitness in the medium-term and hopefully he will recover in time for our tour of Sri Lanka in March."

Leach is the third member of the tour party to return home. Rory Burns left as the second Test started after sustaining ankle ligament damage, before James Anderson suffered a fractured rib in the Cape Town Test. At least 11 members of the playing squad - and around half-a-dozen of the non-playing tour party - have also suffered from a sickness bug that decimated the team during the first Test and resulted in Ben Stokes referring to this, only partly in jest, as "the cursed tour".

England are unlikely to call for further back-up for Leach. They still have two specialist spinners in the squad - Dom Bess and Matt Parkinson - and there is a possibility neither will play in the final Test in Johannesburg. Bess, Leach's deputy at Somerset, performed a good holding role in Cape Town.

Looking ahead to Sri Lanka, though, this episode may further incentivise the England management to repair the relationship with Moeen Ali. Moeen, who is currently taking an extended break from Test cricket, has previously intimated that he was minded to "see out" his PSL contract, which would exclude him from the Sri Lanka tour, but there is little doubt the England management will try to coax him back to the Test team.

He is understood to maintain a good relationship with both Silverwood and England captain Joe Root, and has been invited to take part in some mentoring an England Lions training camp at Loughborough this week.

Moeen and Leach were the equal highest wicket-takers when England won in Sri Lanka little more than a year ago but, at this stage, there seems a possibility that neither they nor Adil Rashid, who was the third member of the spin attack, will return.

A new skills competition at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game will feature players shooting pucks from the stands, over the fans and at targets on the ice, sources tell ESPN.

Debuting at the skills competition event in St. Louis on Friday, Jan. 24, eight players from the All-Star Game rosters will stand in a section of Enterprise Center above the lower bowl of seats. From there, they will fire pucks down to circular targets positioned on the ice below.

The targets will all have different point values, based on the difficulty of the shot attempt. Pucks that hit the middle of the targets will also carry higher point values than the ones that hit the sides.

"It's hockey meets Topgolf," according to a source, citing the popular driving range where golfers knock microchipped balls into large targets on the greens, often from tees in the second deck of the facility.

Another inspiration for the event was a 2019 video produced by the Pittsburgh Penguins that featured stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin launching pucks from Section 220 of their empty arena into an open net on the ice:

Hey @NHL, should we add this to the 2020 All-Star Skills comp? ?

We think you'll like the newest @keybank Challenge. pic.twitter.com/lENntNWm6J

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 11, 2019

Seeing as how the arena in St. Louis will not be empty that evening, sources tell ESPN that the NHL is taking unique safety precautions.

To protect fans in the lower sections of the arena, seated below the flight path of pucks, the protective netting behind one of the goals will be "reconfigured" and stretched above those sections to cover them. It will be the only event of the skills competition where the netting will be placed above the crowd, as it is the final event of the evening.

The NHL has tested this new skills competition in St. Louis already this season, with rave reviews from those who have seen it.

The NHL All-Star Weekend is schedule for Jan. 24 and 25 in St. Louis. The game itself will feature a 3-on-3 mini-tournament between teams from each division.

NEW ORLEANS -- There was Joe Burrow, getting rid of the ball in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Monday night as quickly as Saints quarterback Drew Brees has done here on so many Sundays.

There was the LSU quarterback, scrambling for three first downs and a touchdown in a critical second-quarter rally when No. 1 LSU found itself trailing for the first time since Oct. 22 against Florida, three months and 33 quarters ago. And there was LSU wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, doing such a number on All-ACC corner A.J. Terrell, Clemson's best defensive back, that Clemson moved Terrell off of him in the second half.

With its 42-25 victory over No. 3 Clemson, a team that had won its previous 29 games over 741 days, LSU made its pitch to stand among the greatest teams in 150 years of college football. This LSU team that fought to the program's fourth national championship played the game the way it has played all season -- a brand of decidedly 21st-century football replete with a lot of big plays, a passing game as unstoppable as it is irresistible and a quarterback who tortured Clemson with his arm and, when LSU really needed it, his feet.

"This team is going to be mentioned as one of the greatest teams in college football history," Orgeron said, "15-0, as one of the greatest teams in LSU history.

"But that's for you guys to decide."

It says here the 15-0 Tigers belong on a short list with the 1995 Nebraska and 2001 Miami teams.

Every national championship is special. But not every national championship is transformative. It might be too soon to say that the success of the 2019 LSU Tigers has carved out a new path; Burrow is moving on to the NFL, where perhaps a defense will challenge him.

But in this team's performance are hints of the 1958 LSU Tigers, the national champions who changed not only the way we view LSU, but how Tigers fans view their own, as well.

These LSU Tigers play football that would seem unfathomable to Paul Dietzel, the coach of the most beloved LSU team of all time, the 1958 Tigers who finished No. 1 in the era of one-platoon football. They play football that would mystify Charlie McClendon, the winningest coach in LSU history. For that matter, they play football nothing like the 2018 Tigers played. Moving the chains is as out of date as fullbacks and single-bar face masks.

Joe Brady, the young co-offensive coordinator, came to Baton Rouge this season from the Saints with the playbook that remade this offense. LSU erupted against Clemson for 628 yards. After falling behind 17-7, LSU went on a 35-8 run that quieted the orange side of the dome.

"What this offense has done, I'm amazed. I really am," co-offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger said. "We changed the whole durn thing in one year, you know what I'm saying? We changed everything in one year. And these guys bought into it. They worked their ass off to get where they're supposed to be, to get where they want to be, and they did it."

Burrow finished this season with 60 touchdowns passes. It is one thing to say that's an FBS record. More to the point, in the previous four seasons combined, LSU quarterbacks threw 59 touchdowns.

"You never imagine this," said Ensminger, a Baton Rouge native who played quarterback for LSU in the late 1970s. "But it's always your goal."

You never imagine that your team will be the best in 126 seasons of your program's history. At LSU, you never imagine that your team will match the achievement of the 1958 Tigers, the team that gave birth to the program we know, the fiercely partisan fan base, the great pride, the raucous atmosphere in Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers who excelled at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Monday, as they did 14 times before during this campaign, changed how we see LSU on the field.

Ed Orgeron, the homegrown coach who focused on keeping Louisiana recruits home, transformed this program with a quarterback from Ohio. No longer is this program known for viewing the modern passing game with suspicion. Burrow and his coterie of receivers reached offensive heights never before seen in Baton Rouge -- or, for that matter, anywhere else.

Viewed through a purple-and-gold lens, this team stands out because the history of LSU football is filled with passion more than dominance, pride more than championships.

"The Tigers often were underdogs, just like the state of Louisiana," wrote John Ed Bradley, the author who played four seasons on the LSU offensive line in the late 1970s.

The history of LSU football before 1958 is sparing in its success. The 1908 team went 10-0; the highlight of the next 50 years was the fandom of Louisiana Gov. Huey Long, who commandeered the LSU campus in general -- and the Tigers' football team in particular -- as a campaign prop.

"LSU can't have a losing team because that'll mean I'm associated with a loser," Long once told a friend, according to biographer Richard D. White Jr.

In White's 2006 biography, he recounted how Long paraded up and down the sideline signaling plays he wanted run and barged into the locker room to give halftime speeches, once promising every player a job if the team came back and won (it did). He moved four players into the governor's mansion, loading them up with steaks and milkshakes. Long ran off one coach, Russ Cohen, following the 1931 season; and his successor, Biff Jones, quit in 1934 rather than allow Long into his halftime locker room.

Over the next two decades, LSU found little success, and Tiger Stadium bore little resemblance to the house of horrors that awaits visiting teams today. Then came the 1958 Tigers, who under the 34-year-old Dietzel laid the foundation of the program we know today. Those Tigers endeared themselves to the state, especially Billy Cannon, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1959. Cannon went to Istrouma High School, six miles from campus. In 1958, the fans began filling Tiger Stadium to the rim, and they have done so pretty much ever since, even as the stadium has grown half-again its size, from 67,720 to 102,321.

In the six decades after Cannon and his classmates graduated, LSU fans displayed their pride in the noise and heat and general hullabaloo that descended upon Tiger Stadium on autumn Saturday nights. The number of wins might have wavered, but the pride only rarely did, sustaining itself through the thin of most of the 20th century and the thick of the 21st.

McClendon, who from the early 1960s through the 1970s won more games (137) than any other coach in LSU history, chastised his players by saying, "You are letting down the whole state of Louisiana." He meant it, and he might have been right.

Orgeron grew up in Larose, Louisiana, in the part of the state that is losing its battle against the incursion of the Gulf of Mexico. Orgeron's first memory of LSU football is of hometown hero Ronnie Estay, a 215-pound defensive tackle. Estay anchored the defensive line that held Notre Dame to a cumulative 11 points in a home-and-home series in 1970 and 1971. In a 28-8 defeat of the Fighting Irish in 1971, LSU made several goal-line stands with Estay right in the middle.

"It was the talk of the town for 10 years -- or still," Orgeron said. "And I remember [thinking] this: 'Wow, if I could ever be a part of something like that ...'"

Estay epitomized the undersized fighters signed by McClendon. Most recruits have to get bigger to play college football. Estay came to LSU and had to lose 15 pounds to get on the field.

That ability to punch above their weight both endeared the Tigers to their fans and explained why for so many years they never reached the top. LSU under McClendon went 2-14 against Bear Bryant (McClendon's coach at Kentucky) and Alabama.

A generation later, LSU again measures its success against the standard set in Tuscaloosa, largely because of the coach who broke their hearts. As much as LSU fans celebrated the BCS championships that their Tigers won in 2003 and 2007, the dominance those titles represented was diminished by the shadow cast by Nick Saban.

The 2003 season, as memorable as it is, turned out to be only a rung in the ladder Saban climbed to his ultimate destination. He won one national championship at LSU. He has won five at Alabama, including the 2011 title that the Crimson Tide claimed by humiliating the Tigers 21-0 in their last visit to the Superdome.

On Monday night, back in the Dome, LSU gave a performance for the ages.

"You know, I think what we did tonight can't be taken away from us," Burrow said. "I don't know about the whole hero thing, but I know this national championship will be remembered for a long time in Louisiana. To do it in New Orleans is even more special. This is going to be remembered for a long time."

Orgeron said one other thing that needs no contemplation.

"We wouldn't be here without Joe Burrow," Orgeron said. "We know that."

LOS ANGELES -- LeBron James and Kevin Love shared an intricate postgame handshake -- a flurry of patted hands, fist pounds and high-fives -- then hugged and made their way to separate locker rooms.

The Los Angeles Lakers' 128-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday was the first time James and Love had played against one another since James left Cleveland for L.A. as a free agent in the summer of 2018, after injuries caused James to miss one and Love to miss both of the teams' matchups last season.

"It was different because it's been so long and we've been through so many battles with each other," Love told ESPN. "I'm not going to say it felt normal, but I feel like we were both out there competing and playing hard, but seeing him play with that team is obviously different. Especially, even I didn't get to see him with AD [Anthony Davis] and it still feels like they could do something special."

James had 31 points on 12-for-16 shooting and 8 assists in Davis' absence, as the Lakers played their third consecutive game without their star big man, who is out with a bruised backside.

Love, who led Cleveland with 21 points and 11 rebounds, was asked if he had any doubts that James -- after winning a championship with the Cavaliers in 2016 and making it to four NBA Finals in four years in his second stint in Cleveland -- could build the Lakers into a contender right away as he entered his mid-30s.

"Everybody did [have some doubt]," Love told ESPN. "What do they say, I'm not a religious guy, but, 'You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans'? There's no sure thing other than death and taxes, right? Another cliché. But it's true. Who is to know that it will all work out? But they got really fortunate that it's obviously L.A., it's LeBron and they're in win-now mode. They really have a chance."

Cleveland, at 12-28, is in a far different place than the Western Conference-leading Lakers (33-7). The questions surrounding the Cavs aren't about whether they have a chance to win a championship, but rather if John Beilein the right coach to grow this group during its rebuild, and whether Love and Tristan Thompson -- two handsomely paid veterans with championship experience -- are going to stick around or be shipped out by next month's trade deadline.

James was asked about what his former teammates could bring to another squad should they be traded and bypassed the question, biting his lip and shrugging his shoulders, waiting for another question to be asked.

He was happy to speak about his individual matchup with Thompson, however, one Lakers coach Frank Vogel dubbed "unusual," as he estimated that it was the first time all season that the opposing team's 5-man drew the defensive assignment against James.

"We had a lot of battles in practice before, too," James pointed out. "So 'Double T' is a great defender being able to guard bigs, being able to guard smalls, things of that nature. So just got to try to be very decisive with your moves, don't play around with the ball too much and also be able to finish because he's a really good shot-blocker as well."

Thompson, who had one finish at the rim for a dunk with James in the paint beside him, said he relished the time going against James.

"I just accept the challenge," he said. "It's always fun playing against the best player of our generation, arguably one of the best players of all time, so I love it."

L.A. surged back from a 14-point first-half deficit -- its largest of the season -- and scored 81 points in the second half, the most the franchise has scored in any half in more than 30 years (the Lakers scored 84 in the second half against Portland on Nov. 17, 1987).

L.A. ran its win streak to nine, and Thompson was left with the same impression the rest of the league felt about the Cavaliers during those four seasons he shared the court with James.

"This is a team," Thompson said of the Lakers, "for them, it's a championship-or-bust year."