LSU Tigers coach Ed Orgeron isn't a fan of the visiting locker room at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Apparently, he just needed to vent.
After Orgeron complained about the lack of air conditioning in the Tigers' locker room for Saturday's 45-38 victory over the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas, UT athletics director Chris Del Conte ordered an internal review to get to the bottom of it.
According to a spreadsheet provided to ESPN by the Texas athletics department on Thursday, the air conditioning was indeed working in LSU's locker room. The spreadsheet showed the thermostat was set to 68 degrees, and the temperature in the locker room averaged about 72-73 degrees. Texas also released charts and graphs showing air flow into the locker room.
The temperature peaked at 74.7 degrees when the game ended, according to UT, which is when LSU's players, coaches and other personnel were re-entering the locker room from the field. Texas' locker rooms are equipped with monitoring systems that measure their temperatures in various areas every 15 minutes.
Now, maybe cooler heads will prevail in the latest dispute between the schools.
Orgeron told reporters on Wednesday that LSU brought its own air conditioners and fans to Texas, after someone at Louisiana Tech notified the Tigers about the stuffy conditions. Texas beat the Bulldogs 45-14 at home in the Aug. 31 opener.
"I did talk to somebody on Louisiana's Tech staff, and they felt it was very hot," Orgeron said. "All I did was make sure we had air conditioners and blowers. We put air conditioners and blowers, I don't know about air conditioners but put blowers on the floor [of the locker room]. Saturday, it was fine, it was a little stuffy in there. Whether the air conditioner was on or not, I'm not sure."
Orgeron laughed when asked what LSU would do when Texas visits next year.
"I'm sure we have a plan or two to make them as comfortable as they can possibly be," Orgeron said.
The temperature at kickoff was upward of 95 degrees, and several LSU players had to leave the game due to cramping and other injuries. Texas had a 19-play, 86-yard touchdown drive on its first possession of the second half. Including timeouts for injuries, the Tigers defense was on the field for more than 16 real-time minutes.
Del Conte said earlier this week that it was the "first we've heard of any issues in that area."
"We provide one of the best visitor setups available and are proud of the efforts we put forth in hosting our guests," Del Conte said in a statement. "Our facilities staff did not receive any complaints from either Louisiana Tech or LSU, and we've confirmed that our air conditioning in the visiting locker room is in good working order."