BATON ROUGE — LSU remained No. 3 in the nation for the second straight week after the Tigers posted a 27-3 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
The victory lifted LSU’s mark to 9-1 overall, equaling its best start in 30 years. The Tigers, who are ranked behind Oklahoma and Southern Cal in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls, return to action on Saturday when they travel to face 15th-ranked Ole Miss in Oxford.
The No. 3 ranking in consecutive weeks marks the highest ranking in back-to-back weeks for LSU since the 1959 season when the Tigers were ranked No. 3 for the final three ranking periods that season.
Ohio State is ranked a spot behind the Tigers at No. 4 in both polls, followed by Michigan at No. 5. Georgia starts the bottom half of the AP Top 10 followed by Texas, Washington State, TCU and Florida State. The USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll has Georgia at No. 6, Texas at No. 7, Washington at No. 8, followed by Tennessee and TCU.
Other Southeastern Conference teams in the polls include Florida at No. 13 in the AP poll and No. 14 in the coaches poll, followed by Ole Miss at No. 15 in both polls.
The Tigers remained as the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense, allowing only 8.9 points per game. Through 10 games this season, LSU has yielded just 89 points, including just 19 in the first half.
LSU continues to lead the SEC and rank second in the country in rushing defense with 60.8 yards per game, while the Tigers are second in the league and fourth in the nation in total defense by allowing 259.7 yards a game.
Individually, return specialist Skyler Green leads the nation in punt returns with a 23.7 average on 15 returns.