BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s swimming and diving team, which won the Art Adamson Invitational last November, has cracked the Collegiate Swim Coaches Association of America Top 25 poll with a No. 24 ranking as announced by the organization this past weekend.
It marks the first time since the 2000 season that the Tigers have broken into the CSCAA poll that ranks the nation’s top dual-meet teams.
LSU has arguably faced the toughest dual-meet schedule in the nation with quality meets against No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Auburn, No. 11 Florida and No. 17 Alabama.
The Tigers nearly defeated the Crimson Tide in a dual meet that came down to the final relay on Nov. 10. LSU was defeated 151-149 but earned much respect from the league’s coaches.
A week later, the Tigers took that success to College Station, Texas, and captured the Art Adamson Invitational over host and then-25th-ranked Texas A&M and SMU. Sophomore Julius Gloeckner was named LSU Male Athlete of the Week for his three individual victories, three NCAA provisional time cuts and his help in the Tigers’ two relay wins.
LSU returns to dual-meet action at home on Jan. 12 as it plays host to No. 10 Florida State, who made the biggest jump in the poll this week. The Seminoles leaped into the Top 10 after upsetting 11th-ranked Florida, 172-128.
Auburn was knocked from the top spot for the first time Feb, 8, 2005 as Texas claimed the No. 1 ranking on the men’s side. Stanford maintained its top ranking in the women’s poll. The Lady Tigers are receiving votes for the second time in as many polls.
The CSCAA poll is published nine times throughout the season with a champion named following the final poll on Feb. 22, 2007. Pollsters representing eight conferences along with two at-large voters have the task of ranking the top dual meet teams in the nation bi-weekly throughout the season.