BATON ROUGE — Behind the strength of its first Sugar Bowl victory in 34 years, the LSU football team finished the 2001 season ranked in the Top 10 in the nation for the first time since 1987, as the Tigers grabbed the No. 7 ranking in the final Associated Press Poll, while finishing No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
The ranking is the highest the Tigers have finished in the final polls since ending the 1987 season ranked fifth in the nation and marks their first appearance in the Top 10 at any point in a season since 1998.
LSU won its final six games to finish the 2001 season with a 10-3 record, only the sixth 10-win season in school history. The six-game winning streak by the Tigers is tied for the second longest active winning streak in Division I college football behind national champion Miami.
The Tigers opened the 2001 season ranked No. 14 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and remained in both polls until falling to 2-2 after a loss to Florida on Oct. 6.
The Tigers re-entered both polls on Nov. 26 after improving to 7-3 with a 41-38 victory over Arkansas. After defeating Auburn to reach the SEC Championship game LSU climbed and eventually reached a then-season high No. 12 ranking after defeating Tennessee in the SEC title game for its first outright conference crown since 1986.
Miami was a unanimous No. 1 choice in both polls after defeating Nebraska in the Rose Bowl on Thursday evening to cap a perfect 12-0 season. Oregon finished No. 2, followed by Florida, Tennessee and Texas in both polls to round out the top five.
Oklahoma finished No. 6 in both polls, while LSU and Nebraska flip-flopped, with the Cornhuskers grabbing the No. 7 spot in the ESPN/USA Today poll, while getting the No. 8 ranking in the AP Poll. Colorado was ninth in both polls, while Washington State finished 10th in the AP Poll, while ACC champion Maryland grabbed the final spot in the Top 10 in the Coaches Poll.
The SEC led the way with five ranked teams, while the Pac-10, Big 12 and Big East all had four.