BATON ROUGE – For the 11th straight year, LSU will open the season among the top 25 teams in the nation as the Tigers are ranked No. 4 in the USA Today Coaches’ Preseason poll which was released on Thursday.
On Sept. 3, the Tigers will face No. 3 Oregon to open the season in the Cowboys Classic in Arlington, Texas. It will be the first regular-season non-conference game in LSU history that includes two Top-5 ranked opponents.
Aug. 4, 2011 – USA Today Coaches’ Preseason Poll
Team (first-place votes), Points, Final 2010 ranking
1. Oklahoma (42), 1,454, 6
2. Alabama (13), 1,414, 11
3. Oregon (2), 1,309, 3
4. LSU (2), 1,296, 8t
5. Florida State, 1,116, 16
6. Stanford, 1,101, 4
7. Boise State, 1,065, 7
8. Oklahoma State, 933, 10
9. Texas A&M, 885, 21
10. Wisconsin, 829, 8t
11. Nebraska, 814, 19
12. South Carolina, 779, 22
13. Virginia Tech, 767, 15
14. Arkansas, 750, 12
15. TCU, 687, 2
16. Ohio State, 631, 5
17. Michigan State, 536, 14
18. Notre Dame, 440, NR
19. Auburn, 329, 1
20. Mississippi State, 301, 17
21. Missouri, 266, 18
22. Georgia, 260, NR
23. Florida, 240, NR
24. Texas, 162, NR
25. Penn State, 161, NR
Others receiving votes
Arizona State (6-6) 158; West Virginia (9-4) 149; Utah (10-3) 50; Miami (Fla.) (7-6) 49; Iowa (8-5) 41; Northwestern (7-6) 30; Arizona (7-6) 28; Central Florida (11-3) 22; Michigan (7-6) 19; Air Force (9-4) 15; North Carolina (8-5) 14; Houston (5-7) 13; South Florida (8-5) 9; Hawaii (10-4) 8; Clemson (6-7) 7; Tennessee (6-7) 7; Southern Miss (8-5) 6; Brigham Young (7-6) 5; North Carolina State (9-4) 4; Northern Illinois (11-3) 4; Oregon State (5-7) 4; Pittsburgh (8-5) 3; Washington (7-6) 3; Georgia Tech (6-7) 1; Nevada (13-1) 1.
The USA TODAY Board of Coaches is made up of 59 head coaches at Bowl Subdivision schools. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2011 season: Gary Andersen, Utah State; David Bailiff, Rice; Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Tim Beckman, Toledo; Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe; Bret Bielema, Wisconsin; Art Briles, Baylor; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Gene Chizik, Auburn; Dave Christensen, Wyoming; Dave Clawson, Bowling Green; David Cutcliffe, Duke; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech; Jon Embree, Colorado; Larry Fedora, Southern Miss; James Franklin, Vanderbilt; Al Golden, Miami (Fla.), Jim Grobe, Wake Forest; Pat Hill, Fresno State; Brady Hoke, Michigan; John “Doc” Holliday, Marshall; Skip Holtz, South Florida; Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette; Rob Ianello, Akron; Pete Lembo, Ball State; Mike London, Virginia; Rocky Long, San Diego State; Dan McCarney, North Texas; Mike MacIntyre, San Jose State; Doug Marrone, Syracuse; Bronco Mendenhall, Brigham Young; Les Miles, LSU; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; Tom O’Brien, N.C. State; Bo Pelini, Nebraska; Chris Petersen, Boise State; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; Larry Porter, Memphis; Jeff Quinn, Buffalo; Paul Rhoads, Iowa State; Mark Richt, Georgia; Mike Riley, Oregon State; Nick Saban, Alabama; Greg Schiano, Rutgers; David Shaw, Stanford; Frank Solich, Ohio; Steve Spurrier, South Carolina; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Bob Stoops, Oklahoma; Charlie Strong, Louisville; Kevin Sumlin, Houston; Jeff Tedford, California; Bob Toledo, Tulane; Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Kevin Wilson, Indiana; Paul Wulff, Washington State; Ron Zook, Illinois.
Because it is serving an NCAA-imposed bowl ban, Southern California is not eligible to receive votes this season under AFCA policy.