College football: LSU tops USA Today coaches poll over 'Bama; Utah, BYU receiving votes

BATON ROUGE, La. — Despite its lopsided loss to Alabama in last January's BCS national title game, LSU will open the 2012 season ranked No. 1 in at least one poll.

LSU sits atop the USA Today Top 25 coaches poll released on Thursday, with Alabama second and Southern California third.

LSU received 18 first-place votes, slightly fewer than the 20 first-place votes for the Crimson Tide and 19 first-place votes for the Trojans. Still, the Tigers narrowly had the most overall points in the poll, which awards 25 points for a No. 1 vote down to one point for 25th.

Oklahoma and Oregon round out the top five, followed by Georgia, Florida State, Michigan, South Carolina and Arkansas.

LSU and Alabama, rivals in the Southeastern Conference, meet Nov. 3 in Baton Rouge.

Record Pts Pvs

1. LSU (18) 13-1 1403 2

2. Alabama (20) 12-1 1399 1

3. Southern Cal (19) 10-2 1388 —

4. Oklahoma (1) 10-3 1276 15

5. Oregon 12-2 1258 4

6. Georgia 10-4 1061 20

7. Florida State (1) 9-4 1055 23

8. Michigan 11-2 1023 9

9. South Carolina 11-2 981 8

10. Arkansas 11-2 948 5

11. West Virginia 10-3 833 18

12. Wisconsin 11-3 743 11

13. Michigan State 11-3 717 10

14. Clemson 10-4 598 22

15. Texas 8-5 549 —

16. Nebraska 9-4 501 24

17. TCU 11-2 499 13

18. Stanford 11-2 497 7

19. Oklahoma State 12-1 476 3

20. Virginia Tech 11-3 461 17

21. Kansas State 10-3 398 16

22. Boise State 12-1 271 6

23. Florida 7-6 250 —

24. Notre Dame 8-5 166 —

25. Auburn 8-5 66 —

Others receiving votes: Washington 64, Louisville 46, Georgia Tech 35, Cincinnati 32, Texas A&M 28, Baylor 23, Utah 22, Mississippi State 21, South Florida 12, N.C. State 11,

BYU 10

, Louisiana Tech 10, Virginia 9, Houston 7, Southern Mississippi 6, UCF 5, Rutgers 5, FIU 3, Missouri 3, Tennessee 3, Northern Illinois 2, Texas Tech 1.