1997 Louisiana State University Tigers, 57-13 (22-7 SEC), Southeastern Conference Champions, College World Series Champions.
 
The 1997 LSU Tigers and coach Skip Bertman began the season seeking to defend their 1996 College World Series national championship, but they returned only two starting position players from that team and were ranked #13 in the Baseball America preseason poll.  However, they roared to a blistering 19-0 start, establishing the SEC mark for most consecutive victories and ascended to No. 1 by March 10.  LSU completed the year with an NCAA-record 188 home runs, breaking the previous mark of 161 homers set by Brigham Young in 1988. The Tigers homered at least once in all 70 of their games.  All-American junior shortstop Brandon Larson enjoyed a remarkable season, batting .381 on the year with 40 homers and 118 RBI. He established SEC single-season records for homers, RBI and total bases (250), and he became just the fourth player in NCAA history to collect 40 or more homers in a season.  Patrick Coogan (14-3, 4.63 ERA, 144 K), a junior right-hander, earned first-team All-America honors, while first baseman Eddy Furniss (.378, 17 HR, 77 RBI) was a third-team All-America selection. Second baseman Blair Barbier (.353, 15 HR, 57 RBI) earned Freshman All-America recognition. Also enjoying outstanding campaigns were junior center fielder Mike Koerner (.353, 22 HR, 69 RBI), senior right fielder Tom Bernhardt (.322, 17 HR, 49 RBI) and Doug Thompson (12-3, 4.63 ERA, 158 K), a junior right-hander.  

1997 CWS Champion LSU Tigers

After claiming the SEC title, LSU played host to the NCAA Regional, where the Tigers faced elimination after a third-round loss to South Alabama.  At that point, LSU reserve infielder Keith Polozola decided it was time for emergency measures; he retrieved a little plastic bottle from atop his TV set that was filled with dirt collected a year previously from the lefthanded batter's box at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium, after Tigers second baseman Warren Morris hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give LSU the 1996 CWS title.   Polozola brought it into the dugout, where it sat on a shelf next to the pine tar, just a few feet away from the Tigers' on-deck circle, so that players could shake it or take a whiff for good luck before batting.  Dirt or not, it seemed to work. The Tigers responded with a doubleheader sweep of S. Alabama in a rematch where the Tigers launched eight homers.  Cruising past Stanford and Rice in early games at Omaha, LSU faced a title game rematch with SEC rival Alabama, who had just one month previously humiliated the Tigers in conference play with a 28-2 thrashing, the worst loss in LSU’s 104-year baseball history. But in the CWS championship contest, the Tigers exploded to a 9-0 lead after two innings and cruised to a 13-6 victory. LSU thus won its fourth NCAA championship of the 1990s (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997), and the Tigers became the first team to win back-to-back titles since Stanford accomplished the feat in 1987-88.