BATON ROUGE – The LSU soccer team will open the 2010 regular season on Sunday against South Alabama with a national ranking on its side as the Tigers have been ranked No. 20 in the country in the Soccer Times Preseason Top 25 poll released Friday morning.
This marks the second year in a row that the Tigers have earned a preseason ranking in the Soccer Times Top 25 as they were tabbed as the No. 25 team nationally to start the 2009 campaign.
LSU went on to win its third-straight SEC Western Division championship and earn a second-place finish in the final SEC standings for the second year in a row by tying a school record for wins with a 15-4-5 overall record and setting a new school record with an 8-2-1 mark with 25 points in conference play.
Not only that, but the Tigers received an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament for the third time in as many seasons while earning a No. 4 national seed and playing host to the first and second rounds at the Baton Rouge Regional. They advanced to the NCAA Second Round for the second time in three years.
On the strength of their performance, LSU finished the 2009 season ranked as high as No. 14 nationally in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25. They were also ranked No. 16 at the end of the season in the Soccer Times Top 25. In addition, LSU was a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament after receiving a No. 14 national ranking in the final Ratings Percentage Index published by the NCAA.
With their No. 20 national ranking in this year’s Soccer Times Preseason Top 25 poll, LSU has received a Top 20 ranking in nine-straight weeks dating back to the 2009 season.
SOCCER TIMES PRESEASON TOP 25
Team (2009 Record) Points
1. North Carolina (23-3-1) 1
2. Stanford (25-1-0) 2
3. UCLA (21-3-1) 3
4. Notre Dame (21-4-1) 4
5. Portland (21-2-0) 5
6. Florida State (19-5-1) 6
7. Boston College (18-4-2) 7
8. Wake Forest (16-6-2) 8
9. Texas A&M (15-7-3) 13
10. Santa Clara (14-7-2) 12
11. Florida (16-6-2) 15
12. Virginia (10-6-6) 17
13. Maryland (14-6-2) 11
14. South Carolina (19-4-2) 9
15. Penn State (13-6-2) 22
16. Virginia Tech (16-8-0) 10
17. BYU (18-4-2) 14
18. Washington State (14-6-2) 19
19. Southern California (12-6-3) NR
20. LSU (15-4-5) 16
21. Rutgers (14-4-4) 21
22. Oregon State (14-8-1) 18
23. California (11-9-1) NR
24. Wisconsin (10-6-6) 23
25. Central Florida (17-5-1) 24