LSU is notoriously known for being one of the best football schools in the country, but they've had major success in various other sports throughout the years proving that football isn't the only successful sport for the Tigers.
Since 2019, LSU has claimed 36 NCAA national titles, five of which were team titles and 31 individual. They have been one of the most successful programs in the entire nation over that span, so let's take a look back and review the recent success in Baton Rouge.
Let's start with the most recent title for LSU athletics; gymnastics. After years of attempts, the gymnastics team won the 2024 NCAA making it their first national title in program history. The women won beam and floor, ending with a total score of 198.2250. This win brought LSU to a total of 52 NCAA national titles across all sports. Not to mention, the Tigers Gymnastics team also won the 2024 SEC Championship title.
A year prior to gymnastics getting their first title, the Women's Basketball also claimed their first NCAA title ever on April 2, 2023 with a 102-85 win over Iowa. With head coach Kim Mulkey and players like Angel Reese, the team strived and gained heavy media traction. Not only were the women popular for their season’s success. but Mulkey’s outfits made headlines drawing in crowds and getting fans to tune in on various platforms to catch a glimpse of her latest statement jackets.
Could the media be attributing to player success? Women's basketball and gymnastics are known for team members being in the public eye, not only for their success as an athlete, but also as an individual. Livvy Dunne is known to be the highest paid collegiate athlete and is globally known for her TikTok videos. The fame from Dunne has brought in even more fans than ever. Same goes for Reese, who's gone viral for her reaction during a basketball game, intriguing more people to see what happens next. Recruiting the best athletes is of course the biggest reason for the school’s success, but getting fan support through media popularity is definitely a bonus.
As for the men, the LSU Tigers won the 2023 NCAA Baseball title, their first since they took home the trophy in 2009. Their seventh title in program history pushed them ahead of Texas for the second most all time, trailing only USC, though they've only won one time since 1978.
In 2021, the LSU Men's Outdoor Track and Field team claimed their first team national title in nearly 20 years and the fifth in program history.
And as I'm sure you all remember, the 2019 LSU Football team kicked off this historic run by winning the program's fourth national title and first since 2019. Joe Burrow headlined one of, if not the best college football team we've ever seen, but they had stars all over the field.
Even though Gymnastics, Women's Basketball, Football and Baseball have won the most recent team titles for LSU, there are still so many individuals who have had success whilst representing LSU.
In the passed five seasons, 31 Tigers have earned individual national championship honors across seven sports: Gymnastics, Men's and Women's Swim and Dive, and Men's and Women's Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field.
In Gymnastics, we saw Kennedi Edney take home the co-vault championship and Sarah Finnegan take home the bar championship in 2019. A couple years later, Haleigh Bryant earned the vault championship in 2021. And of course, this passed season, Bryant won the All-Around while Aleah Finnegan, Sarah's younger sister, won the floor championship.
In Men's Swim and Dive, we saw Brooks Curry dominate the competition in 2022, bringing home the 50 and 100-meter freestyle championship. As for Women's Swim and Dive, Maggie MacNeil won the 2023 50-meter freestyle.
If you've paid any attention to LSU's track and field teams over the years, they're about as dominant as they come. We saw five individuals take home indoor national honors in 2021 across men's and women's and another in 2024. As for outdoor, the men have won nine individual titles since 2021, with six of those coming in 2021 while the women have won three since 2021 including one in each season.
It's no secret that the place to be right now for college athletics is Baton Rouge. Across all sports, men's and women's, they've won countless titles and it seems like pretty much every program is on an upwards trojectory.
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