BATON ROUGE — LSU’s gymnastics team will begin the 2005 season ranked eighth in the nation according to the preseason Coaches Poll released Friday.
Defending national champion UCLA topped the annual poll with 608 points and 15 first-place votes. Georgia (565), Stanford (554), Alabama (531) and Utah round out the top five. The Tigers came in with 444 points.
Other SEC schools cracking the top 25 include Florida and No. 6 (510), Auburn at No. 16 (221) and Arkansas in 24th (90).
LSU’s schedule will once again be among the toughest in the nation as it features six top 25 teams, as well as four others that are receiving votes in the poll.
The Tigers open up the 2005 season Fri., Jan 7 when they travel to East Lansing, Mich., for a dual meet with No. 27 Michigan State.
2005 Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank Team Points Votes
1 UCLA 608 15
2 Georgia 565 3
3 Stanford 554 4
4 Alabama 531 1
5 Utah 530 2
6 Florida 510 1
7 Michigan 478
8 LSU 444
9 Arizona St. 387
10 Nebraska 386
11 Oklahoma 352
12 Oregon St. 280
13 Arizona 264
14 Iowa State 256
15 N. Carolina 240
16 Auburn 221
17 Iowa 196
18 BYU 178
19 Penn State 173
20 Denver 160
21 Washington 117
22 Missouri 105
23 W. Virginia 92
24 Arkansas 90
25 California 86