BATON ROUGE – LSU will start the 2019 season right where they left off a year ago as the Tigers have been ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25, the organization announced on Monday.
LSU capped its 10-3 season a year ago with a 40-32 win over previously undefeated Central Florida in the Fiesta Bowl, a victory that propelled the Tigers to a No. 6 final national ranking from the AP.
The No. 6 preseason ranking from the AP is the highest for LSU since 2016 when the Tigers opened the year ranked No. 5 in the nation. LSU has been ranked in every AP preseason poll since 2001.
The Tigers are slated to face five teams ranked in the AP Top 25, which includes three in the top 10. Ranked teams on LSU’s schedule include: No. 2 Alabama, No. 8 Florida, No. 10 Texas, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 16 Auburn.
The sixth-ranked Tigers open the 2019 season on Saturday, Aug. 31 against Georgia Southern in Tiger Stadium. Tickets for the Georgia Southern game as well as season ticket packages for the entire 2019 home slate and multi-game packages along with parking passes are still available and can be purchased online at www.LSUtix.net.
The following is a look at LSU’s preseason AP ranking dating back to 2001:
Year – AP Preseason Ranking
2001 – No. 14
2002 – No. 14
2003 – No. 14
2004 – No. 4
2005 – No. 5
2006 – No. 8
2007 – No. 2
2008 – No. 7
2009 – No. 11
2010 – No. 21
2011 – No. 4
2012 – No. 3
2013 – No. 12
2014 – No. 13
2015 – No. 14
2016 – No. 5
2017 – No. 13
2018 – No. 25
2019 – No. 6
2019 AP Preseason Poll
Rank, Team, Points, 2018 Record, Previous
1. Clemson, 1,540, 15-0, 1
2. Alabama, 1,496, 14-1, 2
3. Georgia, 1,403, 11-3, 7
4. Oklahoma, 1,331, 12-2, 4
5. Ohio State, 1,261, 12-2, 3
6. LSU, 1,199, 10-3, 6
7. Michigan, 1,164, 8-5, 14
8. Florida, 1,054, 10-3, 7
9. Notre Dame, 1,044, 12-1, 5
10. Texas, 1,005, 10-4, 9
11. Oregon, 860, 9-4, NR
12. Texas A&M, 852, 7-6, 16
13. Washington, 786, 10-4, 13
14. Utah, 772, 9-5, NR
15. Penn State, 651, 9-4, 17
16. Auburn, 578, 8-5, NR
17. UCF, 410, 12-1, 11
18. Michigan State, 377, 10-3, NR
19. Wisconsin, 370, 8-5, NR
20. Iowa, 330, 8-5, 25
21. Iowa State, 302, 8-5, NR
22. Syracuse, 209, 10-3, 15
23. Washington State, 200, 11-2, 10
24. Nebraska, 154, 4-8, NR
25. Stanford, 141, 9-4, NR
Others receiving votes:
Missouri 117, Army 94, Mississippi State 87, Miami (FL) 70, Northwestern 63, TCU 57, Virginia 44, Boise State 38, Cincinnati 16, South Carolina 15, Virginia Tech 12, Fresno State 8, Utah State 8, Minnesota 7, Memphis 6, Appalachian State 5, West Virginia 3, Oklahoma State 3, Arizona State 3, Arizona 1, USC 1