LSU football: 5 best seasons in program history
By John Buhler
National Champions/SEC Champions. No. 1 Coaches/No. 2 AP. 3. player. Scouting Report. 2003 (13-1). 817. Pick Analysis
Even though he only coached in Baton Rouge for five seasons, Nick Saban surely left his mark on the LSU program. In his fourth year leading the program, the Tigers went 13-1 en route to the second national championship in school history. LSU’s only loss that season came to cross-divisional rival Florida. Otherwise, this was a sensational season for the Tigers.
LSU beat five ranked teams, including the Georgia Bulldogs twice and the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners in the BCS National Championship. The Tigers were one of three teams who were one-loss conference champions in a position to play for a national title. The computers picked LSU and Oklahoma over the USC Trojans based on playing a tougher schedule, as the Pac-10 was down.
With a seven-point victory over Oklahoma in the Louisiana Superdome, LSU would be named national champions by the BCS and earned a No. 1 ranking in the Coaches Poll. However, USC would get the No. 1 rating in the final AP Poll after the Trojans defeated the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl.
2003 was Saban’s only national championship while at LSU. Strangely enough, he only coached one more season in Baton Rouge before taking the Miami Dolphins job in the NFL beginning in 2005. Fate would have it the year he returned to the SEC to coach the Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU would win its second national title in five years with Les Miles as the program’s head coach.