BATON ROUGE — The LSU gymnastics team will enter the 2007 season ranked ninth nationally according to the annual Preseason Coaches Poll released Thursday. It marks the eighth time in the nine years of the poll that the Tigers have began the season with a top-10 national ranking.
Georgia, the two-time defending national champions, top the poll with 793 points and 28 first-place votes. Utah follows at No. 2 with 758 points and seven first-place votes. Florida (697), Alabama (684) and UCLA (615) round out the top five.
Making up the second half of the top-10 is Michigan (594), Nebraska (592), Stanford (583), LSU (526) and Oklahoma (504).
The SEC has each of its seven programs ranked among the top 25 as Arkansas, Auburn and Kentucky are listed at No. 15, No. 20 and No. 22, respectively.
The Tigers’ schedule will arguably be one of the toughest in the nation as it features five of the top-eight teams in the country, in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Nebraska and Stanford, as well as six other teams that are listed among the top 25 and another three that are receiving votes in the poll.
LSU’s 2007 season gets underway Jan. 5 when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Super Six Challenge, a meet that will feature Arkansas, Denver, Florida, Nebraska and Penn State.
Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank Team Points First-Place Votes
1 Georgia 793 28
2 Utah 758 7
3 Florida 697
4 Alabama 684
5 UCLA 615
6 Michigan 594
7 Nebraska 592
8 Stanford 583
9 LSU 526
10 Oklahoma 504
11 Arizona State 451
12 Oregon State 409
13 Iowa State 345
14 Penn State 344
15 Arkansas 340
16 Arizona 314
17 Denver 288
18 Missouri 265
19 North Carolina 243
20 Auburn 179
21 Minnesota 21
T22 Kentucky 112
T22 Michigan State 112
24 West Virginia 87
25 Boise State 51