LSU will open the season and the Lane Kiffin era as the No. 11 team in the AP Preseason Poll, which the organization released Monday morning.
The Tigers, No. 13 in the USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll released earlier this month, are among seven SEC programs in the top 13 of each major rankings list and one of nine in each top 25.
No. 3 Georgia leads the conference on both lists with No. 5/4 Texas, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 9/10 Ole Miss and No. 10/9 Oklahoma in each top 10.
LSU is the next SEC representative in the AP, flipping spots with No. 13 Alabama, which opened the Coaches Poll at No. 11.
Notably, Clemson received the 26th-most votes in the AP’s preseason poll, meaning the much-anticipated season-opener Sept. 5 in Baton Rouge will not be a AP top-25 matchup.
Those Tigers are No. 24 in the initial Coaches rankings.
Check out the complete list below, including SEC programs in italics and LSU regular-season opponents in bold.
AP POLL — PRESEASON (AUG. 17)
1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Georgia
4. Notre Dame
5. Texas
6. Indiana
7. Miami
8. Texas A&M
9. Ole Miss
10. Oklahoma
11. LSU
12. Texas Tech
13. Alabama
14. BYU
15. USC
16. Michigan
17. Washington
18. Penn State
19. SMU
20. Tennessee
21. Utah
22. Iowa
23. Houston
24. Louisville
25. Missouri
COACHES POLL — PRESEASON (AUG. 4)
1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Georgia
4. Texas
5. Notre Dame
6. Indiana
7. Miami
8. Texas A&M
9. Oklahoma
10. Ole Miss
11. Alabama
12. Texas Tech
13. LSU
14. USC
15. BYU
16. Michigan
17. Penn State
18. Tennessee
19. Washington
20. SMU
21. Utah
22. Iowa
23. Clemson
24. Houston
25. Missouri
