BATON ROUGE — ESPN The Magazine ranked the LSU football team 10th in its preseason poll and rated Bradie James,Trev Faulk and Josh Reed among its Top 100 players in college football.
The Magazine says of the LSU football and its return to the top of college football: “THE HYPE: In two years, LSU has gone from 3-8 to the faves in the SEC West. And with Trev Faulk and Bradie James, the best linebacking tandem in the country, maybe the Tigers won’t go in the tank when they’re supposed to do well.”
Additionally, The Magazine’s Bruce Feldman ranked James as the 33rd-ranked player in the nation, Faulk as the 41st at Reed as the 79th. Earlier this summer, ESPN’s Mel Kiper ranked Reed (18th) and Faulk (25th) in his Top 30.
In 2001 preseason polls, LSU was picked 10th by the Sporting News, 13th by Sports Illustrated, 17th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and Football Digest, 19th by Blue Ribbon, Lindy’s Annual and Athlon Sports, and 22nd by Street and Smith’s.
The Magazine’s Top 25 Teams
1. Miami
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Oregon
6. Florida State
7. Tennessee
8. Nebraska
9. Virginia Tech
10. LSU
11. Georgia Tech
12. Oregon State
13. Clemson
14. Michigan
15. Kansas State
16. Washington
17. Mississippi State
18. Northwestern
19. Notre Dame
20. Colorado
21. USC
22. Ohio State
23. Alabama
24. Illinois
25. East Carolina
The Top 10 Players
1. Julius Peppers, UNC, DE
2. Bryant McKinnie, Miami, OT
3. John Henderson, Tenn., DT
4. Eric Crouch, Nebraska, QB
5. Pig Prather, Miss. State, S
6. Quentin Jammer, Texas CB
7. Antonio Bryant, Pittsburgh, WR
8. Jason Thomas, UNLV, QB
9. Ed Reed, Miami, S
10. Rocky Calmus, Oklahoma, LB
Others of note:
12. T.J. Duckett, Mich. State, RB
15. Mike Pearson, Florida, OT
19. Alex Brown, Florida DE
20. Cedric Cobbs, Arkansas, RB
21. Lito Sheppard, Florida, CB
22. Jabar Gaffney, Florida, WR
24. Kalimba Edwards, So. Carolina, LB
33. Bradie James, LSU, LB
34. Dorsett Davis, Miss. State, DT
41. Trev Faulk, LB, LSU
47. Terrence Metcalf, Ole Miss, OT
51. Kendall Simmons, Auburn, OT
53. Dontae Stallworth, Tenn., WR
58. Will Overstreet, Tenn., DE
59. Andre Davis, Florida LB
61. Saleem Rasheed, LB, Alabama
69. Boss Bailey, Georgia, LB
71. Eddie Strong, Ole Miss, LB
76. Terrence Edwards, Georgia, WR
79. Josh Reed, LSU, WR
81. Korey Banks, Miss. State, CB
87. Freddie Milons, Alabama, WR
88. Todd Johnson, Florida, S
90. Mario Haggan, Miss. State, LB
91. Sheldon Brown, So. Carolina, CB
97. DeMarco McNeil, Auburn, DT