BATON ROUGE — The LSU gymnastics team is ranked 10th nationally in the Preseason Coaches Poll released by GymInfo this week.
The top 10 preseason ranking is the 10th in 11 years for the Tigers.
“I think the ranking is a good indication of where we are right now,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “We are a young, untested team that has some things to prove in the competitive arena.”
Georgia, the three-time defending national champions, sits atop this year’s preseason poll with 866 points and 28 of the 35 first-place votes. Fellow SEC foe Florida comes in at No. 2 with 788 points and one first-place vote, while Utah (778 points, three first-place vote), UCLA (743) and Stanford (727) round out the top five.
The top 10 is filled out by Alabama (685), Nebraska (641), Oklahoma (620), Michigan (593) and LSU (591).
The SEC has all seven on its teams represented in top 25. Following Georgia, Florida, Alabama and LSU in the top 10, are Arkansas at No. 14, Auburn at No. 19 and Kentucky at No. 24.
LSU’s schedule will once again be one of the toughest in the nation as it features 10 teams listed among the preseason top 25 as well as another four that are receiving votes in the poll.
Besides SEC opponents, other ranked teams on the Tigers’ slate include No. 21 Michigan State, No. 22 West Virginia and No. 25 North Carolina State. Those teams receiving votes are Minnesota, Washington, Iowa and North Carolina.
LSU’s season gets underway Jan. 4 at the Cancun Classic in Cancun, Mexico. The Tigers will take on No. 15 Denver, Minnesota and Texas Woman’s in the quad meet.
2008 PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Rank Team Points First-Place Votes
1 Georgia 866 28
2 Florida 788 1
3 Utah 779 3
4 UCLA 743
5 Stanford 727 2
6 Alabama 685
7 Nebraska 641
8 Oklahoma 620
9 Michigan 593 1
10 LSU 591
11 Oregon State 503
12 Arizona 402
13 Penn State 385
14 Arkansas 365
15 Denver 365
16 Missouri 310
17 Iowa State 285
18 Arizona State 256
19 Auburn 237
20 Ohio State 202
21 Michigan State 197
22 West Virginia 130
23 Ill.-Champaign 124
24 Kentucky 104
25 N.C. State 72