BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s tennis team took over the No. 1 ranking in this week’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, it was announced Wednesday afternoon.
Top-ranked UCLA’s 5-2 loss to Pepperdine last week dropped the Bruins to the No. 9 position, allowing the Tigers the chance to move up.
“This ranking is exciting for our program whenever we reach it,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “Now we need to concentrate on working even harder so we can have an opportunity to play for the No. 1 spot at the end of the season.”
Only twice before has LSU been the top-ranked team in the nation. In 1988, the Tigers, captained by then-senior Brown, were No. 1 for four weeks en route to a NCAA Runner-up finish.
Two years ago, in Brown’s first year at the helm of the tennis program, the Tigers held the top spot again for four weeks. That year LSU made its second ever trip to the Final Four whie picking up its first SEC Championship since 1985.
“Being on top is a sign that you have a team that is capable of accomplishing a lot,” said Brown, “but it doesn’t guarantee us anything. We have to stay focused and take each match one at a time.”
The Tigers lead the way for the Southeastern Conference which placed all 12 teams in the rankings with an incredible nine teams in the top 25.
“We know that we will have a battle this year in the SEC. For a conference to have seven teams in the top 15 is unbelievable,” said Brown of the SEC’s strength.
At 3-0 on the year, LSU will not see action again until the Rolex National Team Indoor Championships which begin on February 24 in Louisville, Ky.
The Tigers will be making their 14th appearance all-time in the national tournament that features 16 of the top teams in the nation. LSU’s best showing in it’s 14 appearances was a runner-up finish in 1988.
| Team (first place votes) | Points |
| 1. LSU (5) | 447 |
| 2. Stanford (2) | 445 |
| 3. Duke | 437 |
| 4. Florida | 430 |
| 5. Mississippi | 426 |
| 6. Georgia | 420 |
| 7. SMU | 414 |
| 8. Pepperdine (1) | 408 |
| 9. UCLA | 406 |
| 10. Virginia Commonwealth | 403 |
| 11. Illinois | 397 |
| 12. Baylor | 386 |
| 13. Mississippi State | 377 |
| 14. Tennessee | 376 |
| 15. South Carolina | 365 |
| 16. TCU | 364 |
| 17. Texas A&M | 353 |
| 18. Fresno State | 351 |
| 19. Kentucky | 343 |
| 20. Texas | 328 |
| 21. Southern Cal | 337 |
| 22. Virginia | 324 |
| 23. Minnesota | 320 |
| 24. Auburn | 316 |
| 25. Harvard | 302 |