ATHENS — LSU football has been quite a spectacle of late, on and off the field, but former Georgia coach and ACC Network analyst Mark Richt believes the legal wrangling aren’t enough to deter college football fans.

“Nothing surprises me anymore out of the lines,” Richt, a first-ballot College Football Hall of Famer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Kiffin and LSU, of course, had moved to sign and add two former player who had signed with NFL teams and been cut to their roster, angering SEC leadership which in turn filed a federal lawsuit — and later, an amendment — to ensure it could enforce its rules.

Voting LSU out of the SEC when league presidents and chancellors meet on Thursday was among the possibilities, though Kiffin recently filled two vacant roster spots presumably held open for the former pros with non-professional players, signaling a white flag of sorts.

Richt, however, indicated he wasn’t too concerned about fans losing their interest in the game, even with the off-field distractions.

“The thing that saves the sport is that when you kick off, the product between the lines is still amazing,” Richt said. “It still means a lot to a lot of people, and there are very strong bonds between the fanbases and their teams.”

Richt, like most everyone else, has heard the consternation and is no fan of it himself.

“People can say it makes them almost not want to watch,” Richt said. “But ‘almost’ is not going to happen. People love college football.”

To Richt’s point, Week Zero viewing was up 10 percent year-over-year.