Houston Chronicle Ranks The Country's Top 20 College Football Programs

A panel of ten writers from the Houston Chronicle recently put together a list of the top 20 college football programs in the country and pegged LSU at No. 9.

Alabama, Ohio State, and Texas were ranked as the top three programs.

Here are the factors that the panel took into consideration to come up with their rankings.

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1. Facilities.
2. History (recent and past).
3. Money (that a school spends - and not on recruits).
4. Recruiting (the area from which to draw).
5. Conference.
6. Attendance/game day atmosphere/campus geography.
7. Brand name/prestige.
8. Exposure/TV.
9. NFL draftees.
10. Coaching (stability).

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Here's what they had to say about LSU:

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9. LSU (68)

By itself, witnessing "Callin' Baton Rouge" in a raucous Tiger Stadium propels the program into the top 20. LSU's success in the past 15 years (with two of its three national titles coming in that span) and the Cajun-flavored tailgating scene shoves it into the top 10.

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Here is the Top 10:

1. Alabama (146)
2. Ohio State (133)
3. Texas (100)
4. Oklahoma (97)
4. Southern Cal (97)
6. Michigan (90)
6. Notre Dame (90)
8. Clemson (78)
9. LSU (68)
10. Texas A&M (59)

You can see the Houston Chronicle's complete list here.

Do you think No. 9 is the right ranking for the Tigers? If not, where would you place them on this list?