LSU Football’s Rare Case Of Vacated Wins Explained

If you're an LSU fan, you know the program has a long and storied history. With over 130 years of football, you'd probably expect the record books to have a few weird marks on them from different scandals over the decades.

But here’s the wild part...when it comes to vacated wins in football, there's only one story to tell.

LSU Football Did Have To Vacate Wins

Seriously, that's it. It's not some long list of punishments spread out over the years. The entire messy business of vacated wins for LSU Football comes from just one single case. One ruling that wiped out a four-year stretch of wins.

It all goes back to an offensive lineman named Vadal Alexander. The NCAA discovered his family had received a ton of money, over $180,000, from a booster. Now, in today's NIL world, a deal like that would probably be considered totally normal. But back in 2012, it was a massive violation.

So, the NCAA dropped the hammer. They ruled Alexander was ineligible for his entire career. Because of that, every single win he participated in was erased from the record books. They didn't become losses...they just vanished.

This Punishment Cost Les Miles a Spot In The Hall of Fame

For fans who watched the games, the memories are still there. But for former coach Les Miles, this whole thing was a complete disaster. It literally cost him his spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. The Hall requires a .600 winning percentage to get in. With those 37 wins, he was well over the line. Without them, his record dropped to .597...just painfully short.

It's a huge, strange chapter in LSU history. But its also the only time LSU has had to do this in the program's history.

What Wins Has LSU Football Vacated?

Well, this is it...the complete and total list of every single vacated win in the program's history. LSU's 37 (and from only one infraction) Vacated Football Wins:

2012 Season

September 1 vs. North Texas
September 8 vs. Washington
September 15 vs. Idaho
September 22 at Auburn
September 29 vs. Towson
October 13 vs. South Carolina
October 20 at Texas A&M
November 10 vs. Mississippi State
November 17 vs. Ole Miss
November 23 at Arkansas

2013 Season

August 31 vs. TCU
September 7 vs. UAB
September 14 vs. Kent State
September 21 vs. Auburn
October 5 at Mississippi State
October 12 vs. Florida
October 26 vs. Furman
November 23 vs. Texas A&M
November 29 vs. Arkansas
January 1, 2014 vs. Iowa (Outback Bowl)

2014 Season

August 30 vs. Wisconsin
September 6 vs. Sam Houston State
September 13 vs. Louisiana-Monroe
September 20 vs. New Mexico State
October 11 at Florida
October 18 vs. Kentucky
October 25 vs. Ole Miss
November 27 at Texas A&M

2015 Season

September 12 at Mississippi State
September 19 vs. Auburn
September 26 at Syracuse
October 3 vs. Eastern Michigan
October 10 at South Carolina
October 17 vs. Florida
October 24 vs. Western Kentucky
November 28 vs. Texas A&M
December 29 vs. Texas Tech (Texas Bowl)

So there you have it. That's the whole list. For a program with such a long history, it's pretty wild to think this is the one and only time the wins just...disappeared.