BATON ROUGE - The LSU track and field teams are preparing to make the trip to Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, and both the Tigers and Lady Tigers will arrive at the Randal Tyson Track Center with top-five national rankings according to the latest power ranking released Monday.
The Lady Tigers have moved up two spots to No. 3 this week, while the Tigers have dropped two spots to No. 5 in the latest ranking released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
The NCAA published its list of accepted athletes into the this weekend's NCAA Indoor meet on Monday night, and the Lady Tigers are among the national leaders with 11 entries in seven different events. LSU's women trail only the 16 entries by the Oregon Ducks and the 12 entries by the Texas A&M Aggies in the number of scoring opportunities they will have in two days of competition.
The Tigers have qualified nine entries of their own into the NCAA Indoor Championships as they are also ranked third nationally in total number of scoring opportunities this weekend. The LSU men trail only the 12 entries by the Florida Gators and the 10 entries by the Texas A&M Aggies into this year's meet.
LSU's combined total of 20 entries is four more than its 16 entries into the NCAA Indoor Championship a year ago. The Lady Tigers qualified 10 entries and the Tigers qualified six entries into the meet in 2009.
The 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships are set to kick off on Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark. The meet will be contested over two days of competition with this year's NCAA Indoor champions being crowned following Saturday's action.
USTFCCCA Top 25
WOMEN
1. Oregon, 189.58
2. Texas A&M, 150.72
3. LSU, 124.22
4. Florida, 117.75
5. Tennessee, 107.12
6. Clemson, 107.04
7. Arkansas, 95.77
8. Penn State, 89.16
9. Villanova, 78.94
10. Louisville, 72.77
11. Florida State, 64.50
12. Auburn, 61.77
13. Indiana State, 59.23
14. Nebraska, 59.13
15. West Virginia, 55.26
16. Southern Illinois, 54.63
17. Arizona, 54.43
18. South Carolina, 52.03
19. Iowa State, 51.46
20. BYU, 49.78
21. Oklahoma, 49.11
22. UTEP, 48.04
23. Indiana, 44.13
24. Virginia Tech, 41.18
25. Kentucky, 38.78
MEN
1. Florida, 167.57
2. Oregon, 146.21
3. Texas A&M, 141.18
4. Arizona State, 109.06
5. LSU, 102.55
6. Texas Tech, 96.46
7. Minnesota, 92.97
8. Arkansas, 81.31
9. Florida State, 74.39
10. Virginia Tech, 73.75
11. Nebraska, 71.90
12. Indiana, 71.67
13. New Mexico, 69.12
14. Penn State, 62.56
15. Oklahoma, 60.44
16. California, 50.42
17. Auburn, 49.03
18. Georgia, 48.92
19. Northern Arizona, 48.90
20. Stanford, 48.73
21. Arizona, 48.09
22. Baylor, 45.76
23. Kentucky, 43.90
24. Texas, 41.85
25. Ole Miss, 40.04
