BATON ROUGE — A week ago, Les Miles said voters in the Associated Press poll must have slept through and not watched the Tigers’ 34-9 lackluster win over Tulane due to the fact that the next day voters moved LSU ahead of Southern Cal to the top spot in the AP Poll.
The voters in all three polls must have been watching last night as the Tigers, behind a valiant second half effort, posted a 28-24 comeback win over defending national champion Florida. As a result, LSU is now ranked No. 1 in all three major polls, including being the unanimous top pick in both the Harris Poll and the AP Poll.
LSU claimed all 113 first place votes in the Harris Poll as well as accounting for all 65 first place votes in the AP Poll. LSU claimed 58 of the 60 first place votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll this week with Ohio State getting the other two.
“We are complemented by the opportunity to be first in the country,” Miles said. “We respect the opinion of the voters, but in reality, it is like being ahead at halftime. The good thing is this team really had the ability to turn to their opponents. We will enjoy that a little bit today and a little bit tomorrow morning. Tomorrow afternoon this victory is over. We are looking at a completely different opponent in a new week with the opportunity to travel and win.”
It’s the second straight week that the Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the nation. Last week’s No. 1 ranking for the Tigers was the first for the school during the regular season since 1959.
California is No. 2 in all three polls, followed by Ohio State and Boston College. Oklahoma is No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and in the Harris Interactive, while South Florida is No. 5 in the AP Poll.
Other Southeastern Conference teams in the polls include South Carolina at No. 7 in the AP Poll, No. 9 in the Harris Poll and No. 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll; Florida at No. 13 in the AP and Harris Polls and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll; Kentucky at No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 18 in the Harris and Coaches Polls; Georgia at No. 23 in the Harris and Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the AP Poll; Auburn at No. 22 in the AP Poll and No. 25 in the Harris and Coaches Poll; and Tennessee at No. 25 in the AP Poll.
LSU improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play following the win over Florida. LSU holds the distinction of now having the nation’s longest winning streak at 13 straight as well as holding college football’s longest active home field winning streak at 17 in a row.
The road for the top-ranked Tigers doesn’t get any easier this week as LSU travels to face 17th-ranked Kentucky on Saturday in Lexington. The Kentucky contest will mark LSU’s fourth game against a ranked opponent this year.
AP Top 25
1. LSU (65) 6-0 1,625
2. California 5-0 1,538
3. Ohio State 6-0 1,511
4. Boston College 6-0 1,346
5. South Florida 5-0 1,339
6. Oklahoma 5-1 1,221
7. South Carolina 5-1 1,183
8. West Virginia 5-1 1,059
9. Oregon 4-1 1,047
10. USC 4-1 1,024
11. Missouri 5-0 966
12. Virginia Tech 5-1 910
13. Florida 4-2 822
14. Arizona State 6-0 752
15. Cincinnati 6-0 705
16. Hawaii 6-0 634
17. Kentucky 5-1 612
18. Illinois 5-1 595
19. Wisconsin 5-1 551
20. Kansas 5-0 336
21. Florida State 4-1 307
22. Auburn 4-2 248
23. Texas 4-2 136
24. Georgia 4-2 131
25. Tennessee 3-2 90
Others Receiving Votes
Texas A&M 79, Purdue 48, Colorado 48, Indiana 40, Michigan 31, Texas Tech 27, Rutgers 25, Virginia 22, Connecticut 20, Kansas State 18, Boise State 17, Clemson 13, Penn State 13, Maryland 11, Alabama 9, Nebraska 9, Mississippi State 3, Washington 2, Wyoming 2.
Dropped From Rankings
Rutgers 21, Clemson 22, Purdue 23, Kansas State 24, Nebraska 25.
USA Today Poll
1. LSU (58) 6-0 1,498
2. California 5-0 1,416
3. Ohio State (2) 6-0 1,399
4. Boston College 6-0 1,283
5. Oklahoma 5-1 1,145
5. South Florida 5-0 1,145
7. USC 4-1 1,000
8. Oregon 4-1 936
9. West Virginia 5-1 931
10. Virginia Tech 5-1 913
11. Missouri 5-0 897
12. South Carolina 5-1 823
13. Arizona State 6-0 763
14. Florida 4-2 714
15. Wisconsin 5-1 689
16. Hawaii 6-0 632
17. Cincinnati 6-0 578
18. Kentucky 5-1 493
19. Illinois 5-1 425
20. Kansas 5-0 390
21. Florida State 4-1 213
22. Texas 4-2 195
23. Georgia 4-2 188
24. Purdue 5-1 149
25. Auburn 4-2 143
Others Receiving Votes
Virginia 67, Tennessee 60, Texas A&M 52, Texas Tech 44, Rutgers 44, Boise State 37, Connecticut 36, Indiana 30, Penn State 27, Michigan 22, Maryland 20, Wyoming 18, Clemson 16, Colorado 15, Wake Forest 12, Nebraska 10, Mississippi State 6, Brigham Young 6, Alabama 6, Kansas State 5, Stanford 4, Michigan State 3, UCLA 2.
Dropped From Rankings
Rutgers 21, Clemson 22, Nebraska 23, UCLA 25.
Harris Interactive College Football Poll
Oct. 7, 2007
Rank Team Record Points
1 LSU (113) 6-0 2,825
2 California 5-0 2,654
3 Ohio State 6-0 2,643
4 Boston College 6-0 2,406
5 Oklahoma 5-1 2,218
6 South Florida 5-0 2,166
7 USC 4-1 2,015
8 West Virginia 5-1 1,855
9 South Carolina 5-1 1,809
10 Oregon 4-1 1,692
11 Missouri 5-0 1,610
12 Virginia Tech 5-1 1,563
13 Florida 4-2 1,364
14 Arizona State 6-0 1,359
15 Wisconsin 5-1 1,309
16 Hawaii 6-0 1,266
17 Cincinnati 6-0 1,083
18 Kentucky 5-1 1,034
19 Illinois 5-1 871
20 Kansas 5-0 630
21 Texas 4-2 372
22 Florida State 4-1 344
23 Georgia 4-2 327
24 Purdue 5-1 270
25 Auburn 3-2 191