50 Fun Facts About LSU

In which Louisiana city is LSU's main campus located?

The campus sits on a 650-acre plateau on the banks of the Mississippi River, just south of downtown. LSU moved there from the old federal garrison grounds that are now the site of the state capitol.

What is the name of LSU's live tiger mascot?

Mike is the name of both the live tiger and the costumed mascot. The current animal, Mike VII, is a Bengal-Siberian mix.

What is the nickname of LSU's Tiger Stadium?

Bear Bryant once said Baton Rouge was the worst place in the world for a visiting team, 'like being inside a drum.' The NCAA ranked it the loudest stadium in college football in 2013.

How many football national championships does LSU claim?

The titles came in 1958, 2003, 2007 and 2019. The 2007 team was the first two-loss team ever to win the national championship.

Which LSU quarterback won the Heisman Trophy in 2019?

Burrow threw for 4,366 yards and 44 touchdowns that season, setting LSU records and tying the SEC mark, as the Tigers went 15-0 and beat Clemson for the title.

Who was LSU's first Heisman Trophy winner, in 1959?

Cannon's 89-yard punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night 1959, in which he broke seven tackles, remains the most famous play in program history.

How many College World Series titles had LSU baseball won through the 2025 season?

The titles came in 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2023 and 2025. The first two both ended with wins over Wichita State in the championship game.

Which Civil War general served as the school's first superintendent when it opened in 1860?

Sherman resigned after Louisiana seceded in January 1861. After the war he donated two captured Confederate cannons that had fired on Fort Sumter, and they still sit in front of the Military Science building.

According to legend, why did LSU end up with purple and gold as its colors in 1893?

The first team wore makeshift uniforms with purple and gold ribbons for a 34-0 loss to Tulane in New Orleans, the only game LSU played that year.

What is the seating capacity of Tiger Stadium?

That makes it the second-largest stadium in the SEC behind Texas A&M's Kyle Field, the fifth largest in the NCAA and the seventh largest in the world.

Which coach led LSU to its 2003 national championship before leaving for the Miami Dolphins?

Saban was hired from Michigan State on December 1, 1999. He announced his departure for the Dolphins before the Tigers played the 2005 Capital One Bowl.

Which coach's second-string 1958 defensive unit was nicknamed the 'Chinese Bandits'?

Dietzel's three-platoon system rotated whole units between plays: the White Team, the Gold (Go) Team and the Bandits. LSU's band still plays a 'Bandits' song after big defensive stops.

The 1988 LSU-Auburn 'Earthquake Game' got its nickname because the crowd's roar registered on what?

The demonstration seismograph sat about 1,000 feet from the stadium in the Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex and was there for school groups. The winning play was a Tommy Hodson touchdown pass to Eddie Fuller.

The 2002 'Bluegrass Miracle' was a last-second LSU touchdown against which team?

Marcus Randall's heave was tipped by a Kentucky player into the hands of Devery Henderson, who scored as time expired. Kentucky's players had already doused their coach with Gatorade.

Which LSU guard is still Division I men's basketball's all-time top scorer (3,667 points)?

He averaged 44.2 points a game over three seasons without a three-point line or a shot clock. Caitlin Clark passed his overall NCAA Division I mark in 2024, but the men's record still stands.

LSU's 2023 women's basketball national title came with a 102-85 win over which team?

It was the highest-scoring championship game in tournament history, and LSU's 59 first-half points were also a record. Angel Reese was named Most Outstanding Player.

Who coached LSU's women's basketball team to that 2023 national championship?

Mulkey arrived from Baylor in 2021 and won the title in her second season, making her the first Division I coach to win national championships at two schools.

In which year did LSU's women's gymnastics team win its first national championship?

The title came under coach Jay Clark, with a roster that included Haleigh Bryant, Kiya Johnson, Aleah Finnegan and Olivia Dunne.

Whose walk-off home run beat Miami 9-8 in the 1996 College World Series final?

With two outs and LSU trailing 8-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Morris swung at the first pitch and lined the ball inches over the right-field fence.

Which coach won five national titles with LSU baseball between 1991 and 2000?

Bertman came from an assistant job at Miami in 1984 and later served as LSU's athletic director. The field at Alex Box Stadium was named for him in 2013.

Where does LSU play its home baseball games?

It is named for Simeon Alex Box, a 1942 LSU letterman and Distinguished Service Cross recipient killed in North Africa in World War II. The playing surface is Skip Bertman Field.

In 2023, which two LSU teammates became the first pair from one school to go 1-2 in the MLB draft?

Skenes, a transfer from Air Force, went first to Pittsburgh and Crews second to Washington, weeks after they had won the College World Series together.

Which pitcher was the first LSU player taken first overall in the MLB draft, in 1989?

McDonald went to the Baltimore Orioles after winning the Golden Spikes Award. LSU has produced 23 first-round picks in total.

In 1907 LSU became the first US college team to play football on foreign soil, beating which opponent 56-0?

The Bacardi Bowl was played on Christmas Day in Havana, Cuba. John Seip ran back a 67-yard punt return in the rout.

How was the first Mike the Tiger paid for in 1936?

The $750 raised bought a tiger originally named Sheik from the Little Rock Zoo. He was renamed for athletic trainer Mike Chambers, and handlers found he would still roar when someone called 'Sheik!'

Which rival school's fans kidnapped Mike I in the 1950s and returned him sprayed green?

He and his cage were found in New Orleans painted Tulane green before the game. The LSU-Tulane series was the program's defining rivalry for most of the 20th century.

What happened on the morning of November 28, 1981, involving Mike IV?

He roamed for hours, attacked a small tree and got trapped in the track stadium before three tranquilizer shots brought him home. He lived to 21, the oldest of LSU's tigers.

By legend, what did Huey Long have built inside Tiger Stadium in 1936 to fund seats through the back door?

Seats went on top of student housing, more than doubling capacity to a horseshoe. The football team even lived in the stadium dorms during the 1986 season.

How many seats did Tiger Stadium have when it opened in 1924?

Those first seats are the lower halves of today's east and west sideline grandstands. The south end zone was enclosed in 1953, making it a 67,720-seat bowl.

Which Garth Brooks song is played at every LSU home football game?

The song, originally recorded by the Oak Ridge Boys, has become a fourth-quarter singalong staple in Death Valley.

The 'Geaux' in 'Geaux Tigers' comes from a spelling common in what?

The -eaux ending shows up in names like Boudreaux and Thibodeaux, so 'Geaux' is pronounced 'Go.'

LSU's 325-member marching musicians are known collectively by what nickname?

The 325-member band marches down Victory Hill about an hour before every home game, and its pregame salute is one of the most imitated in college football.

Which LSU big man was twice SEC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American before becoming an NBA legend?

He later appeared with Mike the Tiger in a 'This Is SportsCenter' commercial, and the athletes' academic center has life-skills labs named after him.

What is the name of the arena where LSU plays basketball and gymnastics?

Opened in 1972 and nicknamed 'The Deaf Dome,' it was converted into a field hospital staffed by about 3,000 student volunteers after Hurricane Katrina.

Which team beat LSU 34-0 in the program's very first football game in 1893?

The game was played before 1,500 fans at Crescent City Base Ball Park in New Orleans. Future Louisiana governor Ruffin G. Pleasant was LSU's quarterback and captain.

Which professor, known for his research on sugar, organized LSU's first football team?

Coates, a chemistry professor who had played at Johns Hopkins, coached only that single game. The chemistry building on campus bears his name.

LSU's 'Tigers' nickname, adopted in 1896, was reputedly taken from what?

The 1896 squad, LSU's first to be called the Tigers, went undefeated and won the school's first conference championship in the SIAA.

LSU's 2019 championship team was known for which two 1,000-yard wide receivers?

LSU has produced three seasons with two 1,000-yard receivers, and Beckham, Jefferson, Chase, Nabers and Thomas were all first-round NFL picks between 2014 and 2024.

How many passing yards did LSU's 2019 Heisman QB throw for, an SEC single-season record at the time?

His 44 touchdown passes set an LSU record and tied the SEC mark, and the traditionally defense-first Tigers averaged more than 48 points a game.

Which coach was hired from Oklahoma State in January 2005 and won LSU's 2007 national title?

His first season was disrupted by Hurricane Katrina, which forced a home game to be moved to Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium.

Under what name was LSU founded in 1860 near Pineville?

Its military roots earned it the nickname 'The Ole War Skule.' The name changed to Louisiana State University in 1870, and the school merged with the A&M college in 1877.

Roughly how many live oak trees shade the LSU campus?

Most of the campus's 250 buildings were built between 1925 and 1940 in a style modeled on the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, with stucco walls and Ludowici tile roofs.

How old are the LSU Campus Mounds near the northwest corner of campus estimated to be?

The two mounds were added individually to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 and are among the oldest known human-made structures in the Americas.

Which LSU president, appointed by Huey Long, was charged in 1939 with embezzling half a million dollars?

The scandal led to at least twenty indictments and a 10-year federal sentence for Governor Richard Leche. Law dean Paul Hebert stepped in as interim president.

How many displaced students did LSU take in after Hurricane Katrina in 2005?

They came from Tulane, Loyola, Xavier and the University of New Orleans, and the Maravich Center doubled as a working field hospital.

Which of LSU's live tigers reigned for 18 years after arriving from Seattle just before the 1958 title season?

During his reign LSU won three SEC titles and eight of 13 bowl games. He died in 1976 after the only losing season of his lifetime, and the vet vowed never to let another tiger die on campus.

What is the name of LSU's student newspaper, in print since 1887?

The Society of Professional Journalists named it the best all-around daily student paper in its 2012 Mark of Excellence awards.

LSU's main campus buildings are built in the style of which Italian Renaissance architect?

More than 250 buildings share the look across a 650-acre plateau beside the Mississippi, dedicated in 1926.

Which Oscar-winning actress majored in drama at LSU?

She shares alumni status with sports greats such as Shaquille O'Neal, a two-time SEC Player of the Year.

Because of its military-academy origins, LSU is nicknamed what?

The school opened in 1860 as a seminary of learning and military academy and still keeps military traditions.