BATON ROUGE — For the third straight year, the LSU football team will start the year ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation as the Tigers are ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25, which was released on Friday.
The Tigers, who are ranked No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches Poll entering the 2006 season, are coming off an 11-2 season a year ago. Last year, LSU opened the season ranked No. 5 in the AP poll and finished the year at No. 6 after its 40-3 win over Miami in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
LSU also had a Top-10 national ranking to open the 2004 season as the Tigers were ranked No. 4 in the AP poll following their national championship season in 2003. LSU has now been ranked for 50 consecutive polls by the Associated Press.
Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the AP poll, followed by Notre Dame, Texas, Auburn, and West Virginia. Six teams received at least three first place votes in the preseason AP poll.
Other Southeastern Conference teams in the top 25 include Florida at No. 7, Georgia at No. 15, and Tennessee at No. 23.
Team
Record
Pts.
Pvs
1. Ohio St. (35)
10-2
1,558
4
2. Notre Dame (10)
9-3
1,470
9
3. Texas (8)
13-0
1,411
1
4. Auburn (3)
9-3
1,395
14
5. West Virginia (6)
11-1
1,354
5
6. Southern Cal (3)
12-1
1,345
2
7. Florida
9-3
1,178
t12
8. LSU
11-2
1,144
6
9. California
8-4
975
25
10. Oklahoma
8-4
960
22
11. Florida St.
8-5
949
23
12. Miami
9-3
893
17
13. Louisville
9-3
844
19
14. Michigan
7-5
824
–
15. Georgia
10-3
743
10
16. Iowa
7-5
720
–
17. Virginia Tech
11-2
614
7
18. Clemson
8-4
479
21
19. Penn St.
11-1
386
3
20. Nebraska
8-4
332
24
21. Oregon
10-2
324
t12
22. TCU
11-1
257
11
23. Tennessee
5-6
215
–
24. Arizona St.
7-5
182
–
25. Texas Tech
9-3
181
20
Others receiving votes: Alabama 141, Utah 52, Boston College 41, Georgia Tech 39, Boise St. 23, Arkansas 18, Wisconsin 18, South Carolina 15, Tulsa 11, Texas A&M 10, BYU 4, Purdue 4, UTEP 4, Iowa St. 3, Mississippi 3, N. Illinois 3, Michigan St. 2, Arizona 1.