LSU ranked No. 12 in preseason AFCA coaches poll
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.
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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.
“The 2024 football team at LSU is one that as we go into year three, has been built on accountability and trust, but it’s been built knowing that we have to be able to play much more balanced football,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said at SEC Media Day. “We had obviously a record setting offense last year, but we didn’t play to the standard that we needed to play at times defensively.And certainly that will be the goal this year, to play the kind of offense and defense and special teams that complements each other.
“So the challenge this year for us going into the off-season was to make the kind of strides that bring our defense up to the standard necessary to play for a championship.We feel like we’ve done that. Obviously we’ve got a little bit more work to do with our pre-season and our opener will certainly test us when we open up against USC in Las Vegas, a game we’re certainly excited about.So all of those things in 2024 have been exciting opportunities for our growth at LSU, and can’t wait to get started.”
