LSU in the Coaches Poll +0
BATON ROUGE – LSU opens its third season under head coach Brian Kelly ranked No. 12 in the nation as the preseason AFCA Coaches Poll was released on Monday.
The Tigers are coming off a 10-3 mark and a win over Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl last year. LSU closed the 2023 season winning four straight and seven of its last eight games. In two years, Kelly has guided LSU to 20 wins, a pair of bowl victories and the SEC Western Division title in his first season in 2022.
It’s the second consecutive year, and the 23rd time in 24 years, LSU opens the season ranked in the Top 25. Last year, the Tigers were No. 5 in the preseason AFCA Coaches Poll.
LSU’s season-opening opponent, USC, is ranked No. 23. The Trojans were 8-5 a year ago. It will mark the first meeting between LSU and USC since 1984 when the Tigers posted a 23-3 win over the Trojans in Los Angeles.
LSU welcomes three preseason Top 25 teams to Tiger Stadium in 2024 as the Tigers host No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 16 Oklahoma. Texas A&M, ranked No. 20, is the other preseason Top 25 team on the LSU schedule.
In all, nine of the 16 SEC teams are in the Top 25 led by Georgia at No. 1, followed by Texas at No. 4. Other SEC teams in the Top 25 include: Missouri at No. 11 and Tennessee at No. 15.
LSU wrapped up its fourth day of training camp on Monday in the first of what will be five practices this week. The Tigers are scheduled to practice in full pads for the first time on Wednesday.
Preseason Coaches Poll
| Rank | School (2023 Record) | Points | 2023 Final Rank | First-place votes |
| 1 | Georgia (13-1) | 1,364 | 3 | 46 |
| 2 | Ohio State (11-2) | 1,302 | 10 | 7 |
| 3 | Oregon (12-2) | 1,228 | 7 | |
| 4 | Texas (12-2) | 1,223 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | Alabama (12-2) | 1,077 | 5 | |
| 6 | Mississippi (11-2) | 1,019 | 9 | |
| 7 | Notre Dame (10-3) | 969 | 14 | |
| 8 | Michigan (15-0) | 944 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Penn State (10-3) | 889 | 13 | |
| 10 | Florida State (13-1) | 867 | 6 | |
| 11 | Missouri (11-2) | 808 | 8 | |
| 12 | LSU (10-3) | 742 | 12 | |
| 13 | Utah (8-5) | 665 | NR | |
| 14 | Clemson (9-4) | 657 | 20 | |
| 15 | Tennessee (9-4) | 621 | 17 | |
| 16 | Oklahoma (10-3) | 609 | 15 | |
| 17 | Kansas State (9-4) | 416 | 19 | |
| 18 | Oklahoma State (10-4) | 359 | 16 | |
| 19 | Miami (Fla.) (7-6) | 292 | NR | |
| 20 | Texas A&M (7-6) | 273 | NR | |
| 21 | Arizona (10-3) | 230 | 11 | |
| 22 | North Carolina State (9-4) | 216 | 21 | |
| 23 | Southern California (8-5) | 199 | NR | |
| 24 | Kansas (9-4) | 186 | 23 | |
| 25 | Iowa (10-4) | 148 | 21 |
Dropped out: No. 2 Washington (14-1); No. 18 Louisville (10-4); No. 24 SMU (11-3); No. 25 West Virginia (9-4).
Others receiving votes: Washington (14-1) 123; Louisville (10-4) 95; Virginia Tech (7-6) 64; SMU (11-3) 47; Memphis (10-3) 44; Boise State (8-6) 30; Auburn (6-7) 25; West Virginia (9-4) 22; Wisconsin (7-6) 17; Iowa State (7-6) 15; Liberty (13-1) 15; Kentucky (7-6) 12; Florida (5-7) 11; South Carolina (5-7) 10; North Carolina (8-5) 6; Maryland (8-5) 5; UNLV (9-5) 5; Central Florida (6-7) 4; Texas Tech (7-6) 4; Texas-San Antonio (9-4) 3; Appalachian State (9-5) 2; Colorado (4-8) 2; Nebraska (5-7) 2; Texas State (8-5) 2; Tulane (11-3) 2; Air Force (9-4) 1; James Madison (11-2) 1; Miami (Ohio) (11-3) 1; Syracuse (6-7) 1; Troy (11-3) 1.
The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2024 season: Tim Albin, Ohio; Major Applewhite, South Alabama; Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina; Mike Bloomgren, Rice; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, West Virginia; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Bob Chesney, James Madison; Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Penn State; Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame; Willie Fritz, Houston; Alex Golesh, South Florida; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Mike Houston, East Carolina; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; GJ Kinne, Texas State; Chris Klieman, Kansas State; Dan Lanning, Oregon; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Mike MacIntyre, Florida International; Gus Malzahn, Central Florida; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico; Jeff Monken, Army; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, UNLV; Gerad Parker, Troy; Brent Pry, Virginia Tech; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Tulane; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio.
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