BATON ROUGE – The LSU football team closed another solid season with a win in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl and on Tuesday learned that the final Associated Press Top 25 poll had the Tigers ranked No. 13, the highest finish for the team since the 2011 season.
The Tigers, who finished the season 8-4 overall with a 29-9 victory over the Louisville Cardinals in Orlando on New Year’s Eve, is the second-highest ranked SEC team in the final poll and one of five conference teams ranked to end the year. Alabama ended the year No. 2, as after the Tigers are Florida at No. 14, Tennessee at No. 22 and Auburn at No. 24.
By record, LSU is the highest ranked four-loss team since 2007 as the squad faced eight opponents that finished the season ranked in the poll, while being the highest ranked eight-win side since 1994.
LSU has now finished the season ranked or receiving votes in the final AP poll in each of the last eight years and nine of the last 10 overall. Since 2005, LSU has been ranked to end the year 11 times which is the most among all SEC schools.
View the full poll below, or view LSU’s history in the AP Poll here.
#LSU (8-4) is ranked No. 13 in final @AP_Top25. @LSUfootball is highest ranked 4-loss team since Tennessee (10-4) at No. 12 in ’07.
— Michael Bonnette (@LSUBonnette) January 10, 2017
At No. 13, @LSUfootball is also highest-ranked 8-win team in @AP_Top25 since 1994 when USC finished No.13 with an 8-3-1 overall mark. #LSU
— Michael Bonnette (@LSUBonnette) January 10, 2017
AP Top 25 (Final)
Rank, Team (First-Place Votes), 2016 Record, Points, Previous
1. Clemson (60), 14-1, 1,500, 3
2. Alabama, 14-1, 1,440, 1
3. USC, 10-3, 1,292, 9
4. Washington, 12-2, 1,277, 4
5. Oklahoma, 11-2, 1,252, 7
6. Ohio State, 11-2, 1,240, 2
7. Penn State, 11-3, 1,130, 5
8. Florida State, 10-3, 1,105, 10
9. Wisconsin, 11-3, 1,032, 8
10. Michigan, 10-3, 1,001, 6
11. Oklahoma State, 10-3, 920, 13
12. Stanford, 10-3, 730, 16
13. LSU, 8-4, 651, 19
14. Florida, 9-4, 640, 20
15. Western Michigan, 13-1, 619, 12
16. Virginia Tech, 10-4, 610, 18
17. Colorado, 10-4, 585, 11
18. West Virginia, 10-3, 368, 14
19. USF, 11-2, 358, 25
20. Miami (Fla.), 9-4, 338, NR
21. Louisville, 9-4, 277, 15
22. Tennessee, 9-4, 253, NR
23. Utah, 9-4, 222, NR
24. Auburn, 8-5, 206, 17
25. San Diego State, 11-3, 113, NR
Others receiving votes: Kansas St. 83, Georgia Tech 47, Nebraska 38, W. Kentucky 32, Air Force 30, Pittsburgh 21, Boise St. 19, Iowa 14, Minnesota 12, Tulsa 10, BYU 9, Temple 8, Houston 8, North Carolina 8, Navy 1, Washington St. 1.
2016 Amway Coaches Poll – Final
Rank, Team (First-Place Votes), Record, Points
1, Clemson (60), 14-1, 1500
2, Alabama, 14-1, 1440
3, Oklahoma, 11-2, 1308
4, Washington, 12-2, 1265
5, USC, 10-3, 1263
6, Ohio State, 11-2, 1186
7, Penn State, 11-3, 1123
8, Florida State, 10-3, 1102
9, Wisconsin, 11-3, 1044
10, Michigan, 10-3, 986
11, Oklahoma State, 10-3, 922
12, Stanford, 10-3, 791
13, Florida, 9-4, 673
14, LSU, 8-4, 641
15, Colorado, 10-4, 634
16, Virginia Tech, 10-4, 632
17, West Virginia, 10-3, 522
18, Western Michigan, 13-1, 449
19, South Florida, 11-2, 362
20, Louisville, 9-4, 338
21, Utah, 9-4, 303
22, Auburn, 8-5, 230
23, Miami, 9-4, 229
24, Tennessee, 9-4, 211
25, San Diego State, 11-3, 102
Dropped from rankings: Nebraska 21, Temple 24, Iowa 25
Others receiving votes: Nebraska 46, Kansas State 44, Georgia Tech 24, Western Kentucky 23, Boise State 20, Air Force 18, Iowa 17, Temple 16, Tulsa 11, Minnesota 7, Georgia 5, Wake Forest 3, Navy 3, Troy 2, Washington State 2, Arkansas 2, BYU 1