BATON ROUGE — LSU is ranked No. 13 in Sports Illustrated’s 2009 College Football Preview edition, which hits the newsstands tomorrow.
The Tigers are one of five Southeastern Conference teams in the SI Top 20, a group that is led by top-ranked Florida and followed by No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 8 Alabama, and No. 15 Georgia. LSU plays all four of those teams during the regular season this year.
SI also listed its 2009 Preseason All-America team and LSU senior offensive tackle Ciron Black is on the squad. Black, a two-time second team All-SEC pick in 2007 and 2008, goes into his senior season having started 40 straight games at left tackle. He hasn’t given up a sack since his freshman year and is the anchor and team leader for the Tiger offense.
Sports Illustrated’s 2009 College Football Preview Preseason Top 20
1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. USC
5. Virginia Tech
6. Ole Miss
7. Oklahoma State
8. Alabama
9. Boise State
10. Ohio State
11. Oregon
12. Georgia Tech
13. LSU
14. Penn State
15. Georgia
16. Florida State
17. TCU
18. Oregon State
19. Utah
20. North Carolina