What happened last time LSU began the year unranked?
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The USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 have both been released, and LSU is nowhere to be found in either one.
This is an unfamiliar spot for the Tigers to be in. They haven’t begun the year unranked since 2000.
There are more similarities between the 2000 season and this one.
Prior to that campaign, LSU failed to finish ranked in 1998 and 1999. Until the last couple of seasons, that was the last time LSU had finished unranked in two consecutive years.
It was Nick Saban’s first year, just like this will be Brian Kelly’s maiden voyage in Baton Rouge. LSU started the year 3-3, but the tide turned after a 34-0 win against Kentucky.
Saban’s LSU ripped off four wins in a row. That included a 45-38 win over No. 13 Mississippi State. The Tigers dropped the regular season finale to Arkansas and moved to 7-4.
LSU faced No. 15 Georgia Tech in the Peach Bowl, where the Tigers got a 28-14 win. That was good enough to finish the year ranked 22nd.
LSU’s 2000 team was led by receiver Josh Reed and running back LaBrandon Toefield. The rest of the Saban era is history, as he went on to win a national championship just a few years later.
If the Tigers manage an 8-4 record with a top 25 finish this year, I think fans should be happy. That’s not the expectation at LSU, but a rebuild requires patience.
A season such as the one LSU had in 2000 would be enough to show us that Brian Kelly has this program on the right track.
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