BATON ROUGE, La. -- Mike V raises his head from the penthouse area of his pool and yawns almost wide enough to sink his tiger-size teeth into the log above his head.

He might be the only creature in Baton Rouge who doesn't feel crowded by the flood of evacuees from hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.

LSU's Bengal tiger mascot moved into his $3 million facility a few days before Hurricane Katrina left thousands of New Orleans residents homeless. His 15,000-square foot habitat includes an oak tree, waterfall, stream and enough plant life for a final exam in botany.

After slumming at the city zoo for the summer, Mike appears to sense his good fortune. With all but his head submerged in the pool, his yawn seems to say: "What hurricane? What traffic? What real estate boom?"

As I pulled into my hotel parking lot late Sunday night, a woman stepped from her van, smiled and handed me a leaflet. Realtors work late hours in a city which saw its population skyrocket in one disastrous week.

The thoroughfares are jammed with cars, hotels are full of displaced residents, and LSU's John M. Parker Coliseum is the temporary home to hundreds of pets. Across campus, Mike V is comfortably alone in a state-of-the-art facility that would make any mascot in the country envious.

LSU athletic director Skip Bertman can appreciate Mike's new digs. Bertman and his wife moved into a new house this month, but the house-for-two now includes a slew of New Orleans evacuees -- two daughters, a son-in-law, a 21-month-old grandson, four cats and three dogs.

Finding rooms for everyone else hasn't been as easy.

As of last Friday, Bertman couldn't assure the University of Tennessee of hotel accommodations. UT then decided to travel the day of the game. After flying to Baton Rouge on Saturday, the Vols will spend the afternoon at a hotel in south Baton Rouge in preparation for the 7:45 p.m. kickoff.

"We were working feverishly to get them rooms," Bertman said. "In the end, we might have had them."

He could understand why the uncertainty might have concerned a football coach.

"Coach (Phillip) Fulmer eliminated the distraction by making a decision (to travel the day of the game)," said Bertman, a former national-championship baseball coach. "He handled it like a pro."

UT isn't the only team that doesn't have hotel rooms in Baton Rouge this weekend. Like many college teams, the Tigers usually move into a hotel the night before a home game. The team might not have that option Friday.

"The coach (Les Miles) will know (today) or the next day," Bertman said. "They might have to stay in the dorm.

"You've got the evacuee thing. But you've also got hotels telling me, 'I can lock in this insurance company at top price for 90 days or this construction firm for 120 days.'

"They don't want a football team or fans for one night. It's a business thing."

Bertman has tried to help the 7,000 UT fans, who have game tickets but no rooms. At a Bengal Belle luncheon, which he said was attended by about 700 women, Bertman asked for volunteers to house UT fans Saturday night.

"We asked them to sign up at a (Web site) and they did," Bertman said. "We're also opening up a motor-home lot on campus. If they've got a motor-home, they're in.

"We're trying really hard."

UT athletic director Mike Hamilton said two weeks ago that he hoped the game could be played in the afternoon to accommodate fans who would have to start driving back after the game. Bertman said that was out of his control.

"There was something that said LSU wouldn't agree to a time change," he said. "I must reiterate, there was no option. ESPN picked the game. That's it. There was nothing we could do."

An earlier starting time also would have benefited LSU fans from North Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Bertman doesn't know how many of them will opt to watch the game on TV, rather than make a four- or five-hour drive one way. He also wonders about the LSU fans from New Orleans.

"That's 12,000 to 14,000 people," he said. "They have tickets. And those people are likely to be here (in Baton Rouge).

"But this has been a life-changing event. I don't know how they feel about (attending a football game)."

Those who do attend will get the usual treatment, according to Bertman.

"You can go to the bank on the safety issues," he said. "We will provide all we would normally provide. We'll have the Red Cross, ushers, city police, LSU police and state police. There's no problem there."

But going home -- if you're fortunate enough to have a home -- will just take a little longer.