BATON ROUGE — The first major collegiate men’s basketball poll has come out and while the Tigers of new coach Trent Johnson did not crack the initial top 25, they are receiving votes entering the 2008-09 100th anniversary season of LSU basketball.
North Carolina was the unanimous choice for No. 1 from the panel of basketball coaches who make the selections for ESPN and USA Today. Connecticut, Louisville UCLA and Duke round out the top five.
The Tigers are tied for 32nd with 19 points with Texas A&M, the team LSU meets in Houston at the Toyota Center on Dec. 20. It took 122 points awarded Villanova to make the 25th and final spot in the poll.
In the top 25 from the Southeastern Conference are No. 13 Tennessee and No. 19 Florida.
LSU tips off the 100th anniversary season of men’s basketball on Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. in the first ever basketball-football doubleheader ever conducted since the Maravich Center was built in 1971 across the street from Tiger Stadium where the LSU football team will face Troy in a 7 p.m. game. That contest was originally set for September but postponed because of Hurricane Gustav.
Season tickets are still available at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office or online at LSUsports.net starting at just $100 for the centennial season ticket special. LSU Athletics Director Joe Alleva has guaranteed those renewing those tickets will pay no more than $100 a year for a five-year period.