BATON ROUGE — LSU once again benefited from an open date as the Tigers inched up two spots to No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, which was released on Sunday.
The Tigers, winners of three straight, return to action on Saturday as they host Alabama at 6:45 p.m. in Tiger Stadium in a game televised to a national audience by ESPN. LSU takes a 6-2 overall mark and a 3-2 league record into the Alabama game.
The Crimson Tide, which is coming off a 30-14 win over Mississippi State, brings a 6-3 overall mark and a 3-3 league record into Tiger Stadium.
While the Tigers were moving up two spots in the coaches poll, the media poll was not as kind to LSU as they remained No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 for a second straight week. LSU has now been ranked for 30 consecutive periods in the coaches poll and for 29 straight in the AP poll, streaks that date back to the start of the 2003 season.
Southern Cal, Oklahoma, and Auburn remained Nos. 1-3 in the both polls.
Associated Press
No. Team Record Points
1. Southern Cal [52] 9-0 1,611
2. Oklahoma [10] 9-0 1,555
3. AUBURN [3] 9-0 1,512
4. Wisconsin 9-0 1,384
5. California 7-1 1,341
6. Texas 8-1 1,259
7. Utah 9-0 1,245
8. GEORGIA 8-1 1,210
9. Michigan 8-1 1,133
10. Virginia 7-1 971
11. Florida State 7-2 887
12. Louisville 6-1 866
13. West Virginia 8-1 862
14. Boise State 8-0 788
15. TENNESSEE 7-2 654
16. Virginia Tech 7-2 631
17. LSU 6-2 628
18. Miami (Fla.) 6-2 593
19. Iowa 7-2 522
20. Arizona State 7-2 345
21. Boston College 6-2 254
22. Texas A&M 6-3 160
23. UTEP 6-2 148
24. Notre Dame 6-3 143
25. Oklahoma State 6-3 131
USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll
No. Team Record Points
1. Southern Cal [50] 9-0 1,514
2. Oklahoma [10] 9-0 1,452
3. AUBURN [1] 9-0 1,416
4. Wisconsin 9-0 1,289
5. GEORGIA 8-1 1,233
6. California 7-1 1,203
7. Texas 8-1 1,169
8. Utah 9-0 1,124
9. Michigan 8-1 1,060
10. West Virginia 8-1 886
11. Virginia 7-1 877
12. Florida State 7-2 868
13. Boise State 8-0 782
14. Louisville 6-1 727
15. LSU 6-2 649
16. Virginia Tech 7-2 582
17. Miami (Fla.) 6-2 568
18. TENNESSEE 7-2 466
19. Iowa 7-2 450
20. Arizona State 7-2 331
21. Boston College 6-2 244
22. Northern Illinois 7-2 205
23. Texas A&M 6-3 150
24. Oklahoma State 6-3 138
25. Texas Tech 6-3 112