BATON ROUGE - For the 13th straight season, LSU football will open the season ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation as the Tigers were tabbed No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches' Preseason Poll, which was released on Thursday.
It represents the third straight season and eighth time out of nine seasons under head coach Les Miles that the Tigers will take the field in a season-opener ranked in the Coaches' poll top 15.
After posting a third straight double-digit win total, LSU finished the 2012 season ranked No. 12 in the Coaches' poll. With the preseason ranking, the Tigers are ranked in the Coaches' poll for the 65th straight week dating back to the start of the 2009 season.
LSU will face five teams in the top 25 and the Tigers are the only ranked squad to face four top-10 ranked teams. LSU's season-opening opponent, TCU, comes in at No. 20. The Tigers and Horned Frogs face each other in the Cowboys Classic on Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. CT live on ESPN from AT&T Stadium.
Other LSU opponents and their rankings are: Alabama (1), Georgia (5), Texas A&M (6) and Florida (10). Six Southeastern Conference teams are ranked in the top 13 with South Carolina tabbed at No. 7.
LSU reports to camp on Sunday, Aug. 4 before taking the field for the first practice on Monday, Aug. 5.