BATON ROUGE — The bye week proved to be good for the Tigers in more ways than one as LSU continued its climb back up the national rankings on Sunday, moving back into the top 20 in each of the polls.
The Tigers used the bye week to practice four times, while also getting some additional rest for a few of their injured players, in particular cornerback Corey Webster, who is expected to return to practice on Monday.
While the Tigers practiced on Saturday, four teams just ahead of LSU in the rankings were beat allowing another jump in the polls. LSU moved four spots to No. 17 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ poll, while the Tigers slide two spots to No. 18 in the Associated Press poll.
LSU, 4-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play, has now been ranked for 27 straight weeks in the coaches poll and for 26 consecutive rankings in the AP poll.
Southern Cal, a 45-7 winner of Arizona State, remained No. 1 in both polls, while Oklahoma, a 31-21 winner over Kansas State, stayed at No. 2. Auburn, the highest ranked Southeastern Conference team, moved spot past Miami to No. 3 in the AP poll, while the Tigers remained No. 4 in the coaches poll.
Other SEC teams in the polls have Georgia at No. 6 in the coaches poll and No. 10 in the AP poll, Tennessee at No. 11 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the coaches poll, and Florida No. 19 in the coaches poll and No. 20 in the AP poll.
The Tigers returns to action on Saturday as LSU hosts Troy for Homecoming in Tiger Stadium. Kickoff for Saturday’s contest is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on LSU’s in-house pay-per-view network TigerVision.
Associated Press
No. Team Record Points
1. Southern California [50] 6-0 1,610
2. Oklahoma [13] 6-0 1,567
3. AUBURN [2] 7-0 1,478
4. Miami, Fla. 5-0 1,448
5. Florida State 5-1 1,304
6. Wisconsin 7-0 1,240
7. California 4-1 1,215
8. Texas 5-1 1,081
9. Utah 6-0 1,072
10. GEORGIA 5-1 1,040
11. TENNESSEE 5-1 999
12. Purdue 5-1 957
13. Michigan 6-1 895
14. Virginia 5-1 738
15. Louisville 4-1 627
16. West Virginia 5-1 627
17. Texas A&M 5-1 561
18. LSU 4-2 528
19. Boise State 6-0 467
20. FLORIDA 4-2 450
21. Arizona State 5-1 305
22. Oklahoma State 5-1 273
23. Virginia Tech 5-2 194
24. Notre Dame 5-2 134
25. Iowa 4-2 62
USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll
No. Team Record Points
1. Southern California [50] 6-0 1,514
2. Oklahoma [10] 6-0 1,470
3. Miami, Fla. [1] 5-0 1,380
4. AUBURN 7-0 1,359
5. Florida State 5-1 1,234
6. GEORGIA 5-1 1,124
7. Wisconsin 7-0 1,088
8. California 4-1 1,071
9. Texas 5-1 1,026
10. Utah 6-0 1,015
11. Michigan 6-1 943
12. Purdue 5-1 832
13. TENNESSEE 5-1 815
14. West Virginia 5-1 669
15. Virginia 5-1 665
16. Boise State 6-0 557
17. LSU 4-2 489
18. Louisville 4-1 482
19. FLORIDA 4-2 447
20. Texas A&M 5-1 404
21. Oklahoma State 5-1 272
22. Virginia Tech 5-2 253
23. Arizona State 5-1 194
24. Texas Tech 4-2 121
25. Notre Dame 5-2 92