BATON ROUGE - University leaders did an about-face Friday, canceling classes Monday and Tuesday at LSU for the National Championship game.

Earlier in the week, the university said classes - and the new semester - were set to start Monday. But, the Board of Supervisors approved a motion Friday to cancel all classes Monday and Tuesday.

The campus will remain open both days.

Word of a potential late start to the semester first broke Friday when the board added the item to its agenda. Immediately, the LSU student newspaper reported on the likely cancellation, sending students into celebration.

Students have been clamoring for the school to cancel classes ever since they realized the first day of the spring semester would fall on Jan. 13, the same day as the Tigers' national championship bout with Clemson.

LSU and Clemson will kick off the championship meeting in the Superdome at 7 p.m. Monday.