BATON ROUGE -- The LSU track and field teams fell from the top spot of the latest power ranking released Wednesday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as the Lady Tigers are No. 2 and the Tigers are No. 3 this week. The squads did not compete this weekend and have not competed since wrapping up their regular season with the 114th running of the Penn Relays in Philadelphia two weeks ago. The weekly power ranking released by the USTFCCCA is based on seasonal best performances of collegiate athletes nationwide and their ranking on the weekly NCAA men’s and women’s performance list. Defending NCAA champion Arizona State has taken over the No. 1 ranking in the women’s poll, while Texas A&M returns to the top spot in the men’s ranking. LSU’s student-athletes wrap up the spring semester with final exams this week and will be back in action next weekend as they travel to Hutsell-Rosen Track in Auburn, Ala., to compete in the 2008 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships scheduled to run from May 15-18. The Lady Tigers, who are the defending SEC Outdoor champions, will look to sweep conference titles this season after being crowned SEC Indoor champions in March. The Tigers find themselves in a position to accomplish what no LSU men’s team has achieved in 18 years by winning their first SEC Outdoor championship since 1990. They just missed winning the team title a year ago after finishing runner-up to the Tennessee Volunteers. With the championship season set to kick into high gear next weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will follow their appearance in the SEC Outdoor Championships with a trip to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the 2008 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships to be held at John McDonnell Field beginning May 30. USTFCCA Top 25 WOMEN MEN
1. Arizona State, 326.16
2. LSU, 321.69
3. Texas A&M, 268.22
4. Southern California, 232.22
5. UCLA, 211.25
6. Virginia Tech, 207.77
7. Texas Tech, 204.83
8. Stanford, 163.44
9. Minnesota, 147.53
10. UTEP, 145.37
11. Arkansas, 140.02
12. Miami (Fla.), 139.82
13. Florida, 135.39
14. Penn State, 126.15
15. Baylor, 123.03
16. Oregon, 117.48
17. TCU, 109.17
18. Michigan, 107.36
19. Tennessee, 106.15
20. Ole Miss, 104.47
21. Oklahoma, 98.36
22. Florida State, 98.15
23. Auburn, 95.58
24. Texas, 95.11
25. Arizona, 93.52
1. Texas A&M, 260.93
2. Florida, 248.00
3. LSU, 247.82
4. Florida State, 240.73
5. Southern California, 206.67
6. Arizona State, 203.55
7. UCLA, 185.52
8. UTEP, 170.25
9. Auburn, 168.64
10. Texas, 165.69
11. Baylor, 149.08
12. Colorado, 137.40
13. Oregon, 133.87
14. Tennessee, 128.73
15. Arkansas, 125.98
16. TCU, 120.97
17. Arizona, 119.04
18. Kentucky, 118.74
19. Washington State, 104.28
20. Liberty, 102.93
21. BYU, 97.50
22. Clemson, 95.21
23. Georgia, 92.54
24. Washington, 91.97
25. California, 88.86