BATON ROUGE — In addition to moving up in the rankings in this week’s Trackwire 25 released Tuesday, the LSU track and field teams have also improved their standing among the nation’s Top 10 teams in the latest Coaches Poll released Wednesday.
Both squads move up three spots in this week’s USTFCCCA Top 20 as the Lady Tigers enter the final weekend of the regular season among the favorites to compete for an indoor national title as they take over the No. 3 spot, while the Tigers crack the nation’s Top 10 teams for the first time this season at No. 8.
The Arizona State Sun Devils are the consensus No. 1 team in the nation on the women’s side for the second straight week as they will be challenged in the national championship race by both the second-ranked Michigan Wolverines and the Lady Tigers at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., from March 9-10. Fourth-ranked Georgia and No. 5 South Carolina round out the top five.
Top-ranked Florida State remains the favorite on the men’s side as the Seminoles are the nation’s consensus No. 1 team for the second week in a row, while No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Auburn, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Washington will also contend for national honors as they enter the final weekend of the regular season among the top five teams in the country.
Any LSU athlete that has not already qualified for the national meet will have one final opportunity to do so as the Tigers and Lady Tigers host the LSU Invitational at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse on Friday. Several of LSU’s athletes are also scheduled to travel to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday to compete in the Last Chance Qualifier hosted by Iowa State.
USTFCCCA Top 20
WOMEN
1. Arizona State
2. Michigan
3. LSU
4. Georgia
5. South Carolina
6. Tennessee
7. Stanford
8. Auburn
9. Minnesota
10. Texas A&M
11. Texas Tech
12. Texas
13. Arkansas
14. Penn State
15. Southern Illinois
16. Georgia Tech
17. Villanova
18. Oregon
19. UCLA
20. Washington
MEN
1. Florida State
2. Wisconsin
3. Auburn
4. Texas
5. Washington
6. Baylor
7. Oregon
8. LSU
9. Stanford
10. Clemson
11. Louisville
12. Arkansas
13. Oklahoma
14. Tennessee
15. Florida
16. Northern Iowa
17. Providence
18. UTEP
19. Texas A&M
20. Arizona