BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers are a consensus top-10 team nationally and ranked as No. 7 in all of men’s college golf as they make their annual trip to Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course this weekend to compete for a conference championship at this year’s SEC Men’s Golf Championships beginning Friday in St. Simons Island, Georgia.
The Tigers head to the championship season as the NCAA’s No. 7-ranked men’s golf team in the latest Golfstat power rankings released Wednesday and the Bushnell Golfweek Division I Coaches’ Poll released on April 3, while they are also tabbed the No. 9-ranked team nationally in the Golfweek Men’s Collegiate Team Rankings released on Tuesday.
LSU wrapped up its regular season on April 5 with an appearance at Texas A&M’s Aggie Invitational where they took home a fourth-place team finish in the event held at Traditions Golf Club in Bryan, Texas.
The squad has cracked the Top 10 of the national rankings on the strength of an outstanding 2014-15 regular season in which the Tigers have won three team championships in their nine tournaments thus far. They are the reigning champions at the Golfweek Conference Challenge (Sept. 14-16), David Toms Intercollegiate (Oct. 4-5) and Talis Park Challenge (March 15-16) this season.
The Tigers are eyeing their first SEC Championship in 28 seasons as they are among four league teams ranked among the Top 10 nationally heading into the SEC Men’s Golf Championships this weekend as they join the likes of Vanderbilt (5/6/4), South Carolina (6/5/8) and Auburn (15/8/6) in the Top 10 of the national rankings. LSU was last crowned the SEC Champion during the 1986-87 season.
Three-time defending SEC Champion Alabama rounds out the nationally-ranked programs competing this weekend with a No. 21 national ranking by Golfweek and a No. 25 national ranking by Golfstat.
Golfstat Top 25 (as of April 15)
1. Florida State
2. Texas
3. Arizona State
4. Illinois
5. Vanderbilt
6. South Carolina
7. LSU
8. Oregon
9. Oklahoma
10. Texas Tech
11. Georgia Tech
12. Washington
13. Texas Tech
14. UCLA
15. Auburn
16. Southern California
17. Baylor
18. South Florida
19. North Carolina
20. New Mexico
21. Oklahoma State
22. California
23. Virginia
24. Kennesaw State
25. Alabama
Bushnell Golfweek Division I Coaches’ Top 25 (as of April 3)
Team (Points) Last Rank
1. Florida State (546) 2
2. Texas (518) 3
3. Illinois (493) 1
4. Arizona State (473) 6
5. South Carolina (463) 8
6. Vanderbilt (435) 7
7. LSU (416) T12
8. Auburn (404) T12
9. Texas Tech (327) 11
10. Georgia Tech (300) 4
11. Oregon (297) 10
12. Stanford (292) 16
13. Southern California (268) 5
14. Washington (261) 18
15. UCLA (258) 14
16. Oklahoma (250) 22
17. Baylor (232) 15
18. South Florida (211) 9
19. Oklahoma State (170) 17
20. North Carolina (151) 21
21. California (90) 19
22. Wake Forest (58) 20
23. Kennesaw State (57) NR
24. Virginia (55) 24
25. New Mexico (50) NR
Golfweek Men’s Collegiate Team Rankings (as of April 14)
Team, Rating
1. Florida State, 69.58
2. Texas, 69.69
3. Illinois, 69.73
4. Vanderbilt, 69.89
5. Arizona State, 70.05
6. Auburn, 70.08
7. Stanford, 70.09
8. South Carolina, 70.12
9. LSU, 70.14
10. Georgia Tech, 70.21
11. Texas Tech, 70.23
12. Oklahoma, 70.33
13. Oregon, 70.38
14. UCLA, 70.39
15. Washington, 70.40
16. Southern California, 70.45
17. Baylor, 70.48
18. South Florida, 70.50
19. Oklahoma State, 70.56
20. North Carolina, 70.57
21. Alabama, 70.61
22. Wake Forest, 70.63
23. New Mexico, 70.71
24. California, 70.82
25. UNLV, 70.82