The LSU gymnastics team’s stay in the top 10 was a short one. The Tigers fell one spot in the national rankings to No. 11 after posting its lowest score in Southeastern Conference play in a 196.575-195.300 loss to Auburn on Jan. 30.LSU faces No. 8 Florida tonight in the PMAC, the third time in four weeks the Tigers will face a top-10 opponent.    LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux said the team is not getting beat by other teams, but instead is beating itself.”We are a better team than this,” Breaux said. “We did not and have not yet competed to what we feel like is our potential.”Junior Susan Jackson said Breaux let the team know she was not pleased with their performance but also said it was not because of a lack of preparation.”She told us she was disappointed,” said Jackson. “She knew that we were ready, and we just didn’t do well.”The Gators come into the meet with a 3-1 record, posting wins against Oklahoma, Auburn, and Kentucky. Their lone defeat came to Arkansas on Jan. 23. Florida’s lofty ranking and impressive record has not changed the Tigers’ mentality entering tonight’s contest.”I don’t think we really look at rankings,” said senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney. “We just have to go out there every time we compete and get the highest score we can for our regional qualifying score.”Clare-Kearney and Jackson tied for second in the all-around against Auburn by each posting a score of 39.500 despite the team’s loss. Jackson won the individual title on the uneven bars by posting a 9.900 and tied for the title on the balance beam with a 9.875. Clare-Kearney won the title on the floor exercise, scoring a 9.925.One particular area of the Auburn meet that concerned coaches and players was the poor performance on the vault. LSU posted a 49.150 on the vault, their lowest in three conference meets. LSU assistant coach Bob Moore said he was unsure what went wrong.”[The poor vault performance] was one of those situations that defies explanation,” said Moore. “I never saw it coming.”The Tigers have added pressure in practice and have become more detail oriented in an attempt to rebound from the performance at Auburn.”This week we’ve tried to do different things, like more pressure sets and making sure that everything is perfect,” Jackson said. To help bolster both their ranking and qualifying score, the Tigers are aiming to post a score of 197, a number they are yet to reach this season. Jackson said scoring a 197 is an attainable goal.”We are definitely capable of hitting it,” said Jackson. “Like D-D says, if Ashleigh and I hit at the end of lineups, given the fact that if the people at the top of the lineups hit, then yeah, we can go 197.”—-Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]