BATON ROUGE – On the strength of their seven-game unbeaten streak heading into Friday’s home match against Ole Miss, the LSU Tigers have returned to the national rankings this week while receiving a No. 25 national ranking in the latest College Sports Madness Women’s Soccer Top 25 poll released on Tuesday afternoon.
The Tigers (9-3-2, 5-0-1 SEC) are off to their best start in SEC play with an unbeaten mark through their first six conference matches for the first time in program history.
That performance has earned the Tigers a one-point lead at the top of the SEC standings heading into this weekend’s action as they welcome No. 24-ranked Ole Miss to Baton Rouge on Friday night for a match that will kick off at 7 p.m. CT followed by a trip to Gainesville, Fla., on Sunday afternoon to face No. 8-ranked Florida in a match that will kick off at 12:30 p.m. CT at James G. Pressly Stadium.
Both Ole Miss and Florida have earned their highest national rankings for the week in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 poll that was also released on Tuesday afternoon.
The Tigers head into the weekend at the top of the SEC standings with their unbeaten 5-0-1 mark and 16 points through six league matches. They hold a narrow one-point advantage over Kentucky, South Carolina and Texas A&M in a tie for second place with matching 5-1 records and 15 points, followed by both Florida and Ole Miss in a tie for fifth place overall with equal 4-2 records and 12 points in SEC play.
College Sports Madness Women’s Soccer Top 25 (Oct. 14)
Team (Record) Last Week
1. Virginia (14-0-0) 1
2. UCLA (12-1-1) 2
3. Florida State (12-0-3) 3
4. North Carolina (12-2-0) 4
5. Portland (11-1-1) 5
6. West Virginia (11-2-2) 6
7. South Carolina (12-1-1) 10
8. Texas Tech (13-1-2) 11
9. Virginia Tech (11-1-2) 17
10. California (9-1-4) 9
11. Notre Dame (9-4-1) 7
12. Michigan (10-2-1) 18
13. Georgetown (11-1-2) 8
14. Florida (10-3-1) 15
15. Santa Clara (8-3-1) 16
16. Penn State (10-3-1) 12
17. Wake Forest (8-3-2) 14
18. Denver (12-1-1) 19
19. Stanford (9-3-1) 13
20. Central Florida (11-2-2) 20
21. Texas A&M (10-3-1) 21
22. Marquette (12-3-0) NR
23. Nebraska (9-3-1) 23
24. Kentucky (11-2-1) NR
25. LSU (9-3-2) NR