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USC Ranked 3rd In USA Today Coaches Poll, LSU At No. 1

 BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- 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 that 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.

Coaches' Rankings
Rankings as of 8/2/2012
Rank School Votes Prev Rank
1 LSU (0-0) 1403 (18) NR
2 Alabama (0-0) 1399 (20) NR
3 USC (0-0) 1388 (19) NR
4 Oklahoma (0-0) 1276 (1) NR
5 Oregon (0-0) 1258 NR
6 Georgia (0-0) 1061 NR
7 Florida State (0-0) 1055 (1) NR
8 Michigan (0-0) 1023 NR
9 South Carolina (0-0) 981 NR
10 Arkansas (0-0) 948 NR
11 West Virginia (0-0) 833 NR
12 Wisconsin (0-0) 743 NR
13 Michigan State (0-0) 717 NR
14 Clemson (0-0) 598 NR
15 Texas (0-0) 549 NR
16 Nebraska (0-0) 501 NR
17 TCU (0-0) 499 NR
18 Stanford (0-0) 497 NR
19 Oklahoma State (0-0) 476 NR
20 Virginia Tech (0-0) 461 NR
21 Kansas State (0-0) 398 NR
22 Boise State (0-0) 271 NR
23 Florida (0-0) 250 NR
24 Notre Dame (0-0) 166 NR
25 Auburn (0-0) 66 NR
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