ESPN's Best LSU Football Teams of All Time

58,03,and 07 are legit

If USC claims 2003, we should be able to claim a split in 2011

We didn't win the AP title in 2011. So we have literally no claim.

with u King, but when we talk about best LSU seasons imho, it rates well

I attached a link. You need me to hold you hand while you click on it?

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1962,

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1962??? Somebody's formula came up with the Tigers as the NC. I was in school then. Tied by Rice and lost to Ole Miss - who finished the season undefeated. No way were we #1.

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Only losses to each other, each in the other's home state.

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You have the states mixed up. Each lost in their own home state.

Here you go suga: (Tarpon08)

Ranking the all-time best LSU Tigers teams

Les Miles and the 2007 LSU Tigers won the BCS title thanks to some huge comebacks.

This season will mark the 10th anniversary of the last LSU football team to win a national championship.

So where does that 2007 squad place among the greatest LSU teams of all time?

Methodology

To find out, I set up a grading system that measures many factors of all of LSU's 14 teams that won a national championship and/or a conference championship.

The system uses a weighted bell curve that places a heavy emphasis on winning national championships, but also gives significant credit for conference record, wins against ranked opponents and having a large number of players on the first-team All-American or first-team all-conference teams. It also awards extra value for high rankings in sports-reference.com's Simple Rating System (SRS) and Strength of Schedule (SOS) metrics. (Note: The 1896 Tigers won the SIAA championship but are not included in this analysis due to not having a SRS or SOS rating for that season.)

This system was designed to allow teams from any era to be able to compete on a level field with teams from other eras. The idea here is that the Bernie Moore, Paul Dietzel or Charlie McClendon championship teams should not be punished for playing in eras that had fewer games per season, but rather should be measured on the relative strength of their particular accomplishments.

The system was also adjusted to a 0-100 point scale, with 100 being the best ranking a team could achieve.

Now that we have the preliminaries out of the way, let's take a look at the top five teams in LSU history.



1. Season: 1958

83.8 points (11-0, national and SEC champions)

Top players: Billy Cannon, Max Fugler, Johnny Robinson, Warren Rabb

This was the first LSU team in the modern era to win 10 or more games and is still the only Tigers modern era team to go undefeated. Dietzel's creative three-platoon system got the most out of this team's incredible array of talent that included four first-team All-SEC players, a notable achievement in an era where all-conference teams selected only 11 players. The best of that bunch would have to be Cannon, whom the LSU media guide calls "the greatest football player to ever don the Purple and Gold." This club held all but one opponent to a single-digit scoring total and defeated Clemson 7-0 to give LSU its first Sugar Bowl victory.

2. Season: 2011

80.6 points (13-1, SEC champion)

Top players: Will Blackwell, Morris Claiborne, Tyrann Mathieu, Sam Montgomery, Brad Wing

LSU's 2011 team had five first-team All-Americans, the highest total among the teams in this analysis. They posted a 24.3 SRS mark, which is the best in LSU team history. This team's schedule included nine games against ranked foes, another total that is tops on this list. Its eight wins against those ranked foes set an NCAA record. This Tigers squad also won a team-record 12 games by a double-digit point total. These achievements led to a BCS title game berth against Alabama. Had this Tigers team won that contest, it would have topped the 1958 squad for the No. 1 spot on this list.

3. Season: 1961

78.8 points (10-1, SEC champion)

Top players: Roy Winston, Wendell Harris, Jerry Stovall

Dietzel said this was the strongest team he ever coached and that certainly showed up on defense. The 1961 Tigers generated 32 turnovers and allowed only 57 points. They did this while facing the third toughest schedule in this group, as three of the team's 11 games occurred against ranked foes in an era when the Associated Press named only 10 teams to its weekly rankings.

4. Season: 1936

78.7 points (9-1-1, national and SEC champions)

Top players: Gus Tinsley, Moose Stewart, Wardell Leisk

The 1936 Tigers are the only LSU team to ever repeat as SEC champion. They led the nation in scoring with 295 points. Tinsley was the first LSU player to be a two-time consensus All-American. This club didn't lack for defensive prowess, as it allowed only 33 points during the regular season and had five shutouts. Add in this being the debut season for Mike The Tiger, and it made for a highly memorable campaign.

5. Season: 2007

77.9 points (12-2, national and SEC champions)

Top players: Glenn Dorsey, Ali Highsmith, Craig Steltz, Chevis Jackson

The 2007 Tigers made LSU the first two-time winner of the BCS Championship by beating Ohio State 38-24 in a game that saw the Tigers outscore the Buckeyes 31-0 in a 24-minute stretch. Their trip to the title game was arduous, as the Tigers had to notch two amazing fourth-quarter comebacks in victories over Florida and Auburn to earn a spot in the SEC championship game. Defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey had a season for the ages, as he won the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award, Lott Trophy, Nagurski Trophy, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and consensus first-team All-American honors to become the most decorated defensive player in LSU history.

Now let's take a quick look at the teams rated 6-10:

6. Season: 1935

77.8 points (9-2, national and SEC champions)

Moore's initial season as head coach had a number of notable achievements, including LSU's first SEC title, its first Sugar Bowl berth and its initial consensus first-team All-American in Tinsley.

7. Season: 1962

74.7 points (9-1-1, national champions)

McClendon's LSU head coaching career got off to a great start, as his 1962 squad gave up only 34 points all season. A 13-0 win over No. 4 Texas was the Tigers first Cotton Bowl victory.

8. Season: 1970

73.8 points (9-3, SEC champion)

No team in this analysis had a more brutal schedule, as five of its last seven foes were ranked in the AP Top 20. This remains the only LSU team to sweep Auburn and Alabama on the road in the same season.

9. Season: 2003

72.8 points (13-1, national and SEC champions)






The combination of Matt Mauck throwing a team-record 28 touchdown passes and the defense leading the nation in points allowed per game (11.0) propelled this club to its first 13-win season and a BCS title game win over Oklahoma. Were it not for having the third most favorable schedule in this analysis, this team would have contended for one of the top spots.

10. Season: 2001

54.7 points (10-3, SEC champion)

This club came back from a 2-3 start in conference play to win the SEC West via a three-game win streak that included a division-clinching victory over Auburn. A fourth-quarter comeback win over Tennessee in the SEC title tilt and a dominant 47-34 Sugar Bowl victory over Illinois set the stage for greater things to come.

Finally, here are the teams that rated 11-14.

11. 1986, 54.0 points (9-3, SEC champion) 12. 1988, 50.8 points (8-4, SEC champion) 13. 1908, 38.4 points (10-0, national and SIAA champions) 14. 1932, 34.3 points (6-3-1, Southern champion)

Nice link to try and get us to subscribe to ESPN Insider. Not this fool.