BATON ROUGE — LSU football is once again featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the Tigers’ are one of six regional covers that the magazine showcases for its annual 2006 College Football Preview, which hits the newsstands this week.
The Tigers, who are coming off an 11-2 mark a year ago, are ranked No. 4 in the Sports Illustrated preseason poll. LSU is the highest ranked team in the Southeastern Conference.
Ohio State tops Sports Illustrated’s preseason Top 20, followed by No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Southern Cal. Other SEC teams in the SI Top 20 include Auburn at No. 7, Florida at No. 9, and Georgia at No. 11.
The LSU SI cover features Tiger defensive backs LaRon Landry and Chevis Jackson along with linebacker Ali Highsmith. Landry, a consensus preseason All-America pick heading into the 2006 season, returns for his fourth season as a starter in the Tiger secondary. Jackson joins Landry, Jessie Daniels and Jonathan Zenon for what is being touted as the No. 1 defensive backfield in college football.
Highsmith returns as LSU’s leading tackler having totaled 75 tackles and 9.5 tackles for losses for a Tiger defense that ranked among the top six in the nation a year ago in four categories.
LSU opens its season on Sept. 2 when the Tigers host Louisiana-Lafayette at 7 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.
Sports Illustrated’s Preseason Top 20
1. Ohio State
2. Notre Dame
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. USC
6. West Virginia
7. Auburn
8. Cal
9. Florida
10. Michigan
11. Georgia
12. Florida State
13. Louisville
14. Oklahoma
15. Clemson
16. Arizona State
17. Miami
18. Nebraska
19. Penn State
20. Oregon