LSU News and Notes For 08/06/2010

*Stephen Rivers, a 6'6", 200 quarterback from Athens, Alabama, has committed to play football for the LSU Tigers. Rivers is the brother of NFL quarterback Phillip Rivers. Rivers is LSU's first quarterback commitment of the year.Rivers, is a three star quarterback and currently ranked 30th among quarterbacks on rivals.com. In his junior season Rivers passed for 2,200 yards with 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

*For the 10th straight year, LSU will open the season among the top 25 teams in the nation as the Tigers are ranked No. 16 in the USA Today preseason poll which was released on Friday.

LSU has been ranked in every preseason Top 25 dating back to the 2001 season. Furthermore, LSU has played 64 of its 66 games in the Les Miles era as a top 25 team, including all 13 games in 2009.

LSU is also one of six Southeastern Conference teams in the poll, led by Alabama at No. 1 and Florida at No. 3. Other SEC teams in the Top 25 include: Arkansas at No. 19, Georgia at No. 21, and Auburn at No. 23.

LSU will face a total of six teams in 2010 that are ranked in the preseason Top 25 - No. 1 Alabama, No. 3 Florida, No. 18 North Carolina, No. 19 Arkansas, No. 23 Auburn, and No. 24 West Virginia. 

The Tigers open their sixth season under Miles on Sept. 4 when they travel to Atlanta to face the 18th-ranekd North Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. The North Carolina contest will mark the first time since 2005 that the Tigers will open a season against a ranked opponent. That year, LSU rallied for a 35-31 win over No. 15 Arizona State in Tempe.

LSU returns 12 starters and 42 letter winners from last year's squad that posted a 9-4 record and played in a New Year's Day Bowl.

Courtesy of lsusports.net