As open dates go, LSU came out of its weekend of R&R pretty slick.

The Tigers (6-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) did nothing but relax during another hectic weekend in college football — seven ranked teams lost — yet moved up three spots in both of the major polls.

With its annual Alabama showdown looming this weekend, LSU is now No. 15 in the AP media poll and No. 17 in the coaches poll.

The first College Football Playoff poll will be released Tuesday, and LSU doesn’t figure to be much of a factor in that one. The 13-point underdog Tigers would have to upset the No. 6 Crimson Tide to even get into that discussion.

But you’ll have to excuse head coach Brian Kelly for being oblivious to it all.

“I didn’t even know that,” he said Monday at his weekly press conference of the rise. “I’m not bringing it up (with the team). I had no idea we jumped up because it’s not really anything that changes what we do and how we do it.

“If it generates more buzz in terms of getting in the stadium with more fans, I’m all for it. Jump us up as high as you can. But it’s really about our preparation that has the focus of my attention.”

The news was good there, too.

Kelly was much more excited to learn that two key injured players will be back for the Crimson Tide, with the strong possibility of adding two more.

Starting safety Major Burns and wide receiver Jack Bech are all but definite to return. Kelly is also optimistic about getting back offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger and running back John Emery back on the field.

Burns has missed the last five games with a neck injury after registering 17 tackles and two pass deflections in the first three games.

“As you can imagine, he will be in our game plan and we expect him to play,” Kelly said. “He’s an important part of what we do.”

Bech strained his back against Florida and was in street clothes for the last game against Ole Miss.

“Jack is much improved,” Kelly said.

Dellinger missed the Auburn game and was already playing with a cast on his left hand when he strained a knee in the game against Tennessee.

“Garrett is day to day,” Kelly said. “He had a good weekend, he was here this weekend.”

The concern is more with Dellinger’s knee.

“You’ve got to be able to take the load and that’s we’re working on right now,” Kelly said. “We think we’re going to get there, but it’s still a process because we’re going to add practice to it.

“We’ve got to see how he responds each day after practice. We had people leaning on him individually over the weekend.

“Now we’re going to be leaning on him for full practice and we’ll see how it goes. But he’s making good progress.”

Kelly had not gotten an updated report on Emery.

TUBING: Good morning, Hogs. LSU’s game at Arkansas next week (Nov. 12) will kick off at 11 a.m. on a network to be determined. It will be either CBS, which has a doubleheader that day, or ESPN.

The 2:30 p.m CBS slot will be filled by Alabama at Ole Miss. CBS will chose between LSU-Arkansas and the Missouri-Tennessee game for its 11 a.m. game, with ESPN taking the other at the same time.

It likely comes down to this weekend. If LSU beats Alabama this week, CBS will probably show the Tigers and Razorbacks.