BATON ROUGE — Despite winning the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., just over three weeks ago the Lady Tiger track team enters the outdoor season ranked second in the nation according to the Trackwire 25 rankings, released Tuesday.
The Tigers also begin the outdoor season ranked second in the country after posting a fourth-place finish at the indoor national meet.
Trackwire selected defending outdoor national champion South Carolina as the favorite to win the NCAA Outdoor title on the women’s side, while the Tigers of Auburn where picked to top the field in the men’s race.
According to the rankings it should be a close battle between SEC heavyweights for the men’s title come June, as the top four schools, all in the SEC, sit within six points of each other. Auburn leads the way with 50 points, while LSU is in second with 48 points and Arkansas and Mississippi State are third and fourth, respectively, with 46 and 44 points.
Other SEC schools ranked among the men’s top-25 include No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 South Carolina, No. 12 Georgia and No. 17 Florida.
On the women’s side the teams are a little more spread out as the Gamecocks top the field with 68 points and Lady Tigers follow with 61 points. Big 12 competitor Texas is picked third with 49 points, while USC (41) and North Carolina (39) round out the top five.
Also in the top-25 are conference foes Florida in sixth, Arkansas in ninth, Auburn in 11th and Georgia in 17th.
The LSU track and field teams will look to move into the nation’s No. 1 positions this weekend when they host the LSU Alumni Gold Invitational, April 11-12, at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Men’s Trackwire 25
Rank. Team Score
1 Auburn 50
2 LSU 48
3 Arkansas 46
4 Mississippi State 44
5 USC 39
6 Nebraska 37
7 Tennessee 32
8 South Carolina 30
9 SMU 25
10 Eastern Michigan 24
11 Oregon 23
12 Stanford 20
12 Georgia 20
14 Texas 19
15 Minnesota 17
16 UTEP 16
17 TCU 14
17 Florida 14
17 Texas Tech 14
20 Michigan 13
21 Indiana 12
21 Missouri 12
21 North Carolina 12
21 Iona 12
25 Seton Hall 11
25 Purdue 11
25 Colorado State 11
25 Pennsylvania 11
Women’s Trackwire 25
Rank. Team Score
1 South Carolina 68
2 LSU 61
3 Texas 49
4 USC 41
5 North Carolina 39
6 Florida 33
7 UCLA 31
8 Yale 26
9 Arkansas 25
9 Indiana 25
11 Auburn 24
12 BYU 23
13 Cal Poly 21
14 Nebraska 20
14 Stanford 20
16 SMU 18
17 Georgia 16
17 Oregon 16
17 Rice 16
20 Florida State 15
21 North Carolina State 14
21 Washington State 14
23 Northern Arizona 12
23 Arizona 12
25 Miami 11