National Top 25 Shifts; Florida Men, Oregon Women Remain No. 1

On the web …

http://www.ustfccca.org/featured/national-division-i-top-25-shifts-florida-men-oregon-women-again-no-1



Team-by-team, event-by-event and regional index update …

http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-i-rankings







National Top 25 Shifts; Florida Men, Oregon Women Remain No. 1

Using only data from 2011, new trophy contenders emerge



February 15, 2011



NEW ORLEANS – The indoor track & field national computer rankings for NCAA Division I has reached the midway point of the season. It is just a few short weeks before teams go for the national title at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in College Station, Texas, on March 12-13. Despite many changes across the top 25, the grasp to the No. 1 spots by the Florida men and Oregon women remain strong. However, LSU has closed in tighter on the Gators in the men’s race.



As customary, fourth week rankings calculated and released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) use data only from the current season (with exception of combined events) to formulate a team’s ranking score. With the big shift in information used, so too goes the top 25 with some teams making dramatic steps up or down the national landscape.



Men’s No. 1 Florida (168.05) gained points this last weekend in normal events – sprints and jumps, but a 3:56.84 run in the mile by Dumisane Hlaselo garnered the Gators additional ranking points as the fourth-best performance in the NCAA this year.



No. 2 LSU (163.68) clocked their fastest 4x400-meter relay time of the year – 3:06.56, and, Zedric Thomas improved his season’s best in the long jump to 26-6¼ (8.08m).



Making a leap into the national top three for the first time is No. 3 Indiana (95.37). The Hoosiers have been solid for the entire season up to this point and improved last weekend with a 9:30.78 time in the DMR, which currently the second-best in the NCAA this year. No. 4 Texas A&M (87.95) fell a spot despite again recording the NCAA’s best time of 3:05.48 in the 4x400. Arkansas jumped seven spots to No. 5 and No. 6 BYU launched 11 spots up the rankings with the help of miler Miles Batty’s 3:55.79.



On the women’s side, No. 1 Oregon (199.68) continues to add to their all-around qualifying marks. Sophomore Jordan Hasay recorded the NCAA’s best time in the mile last weekend with a 4:34.75 run at the Flotrack Husky Classic. Junior Alex Kosinski added the second-best time in the nation in the 5000.



LSU moved to No. 2, up one spot from the previous week. Texas is now in the national top three for the first time this year with improved marks across the board from their visit to the Tyson Invitational. Arkansas moved up two spots to go to No. 4, while Texas A&M fell three spots to No. 5.



The SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten each have six teams in the national men’s top 25 and the SEC still adds in the conference index with 679.38 total ranking points among its institutions. On the women’s side, the Big 12 leads the SEC, 6-5, in teams in the top 25. For the first time this year, the Big 12 passed the SEC in cumulative ranking points as they currently maintain a 556.95-536.11 lead.









USTFCCCA

NCAA Division I

Men's Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings

2011 Week #4 - February 15

next ranking: February 22 (Week 5)


Rank
School
Points
Last Week

1
Florida
168.05
1

2
LSU
163.68
2

3
Indiana
95.37
5

4
Texas A&M
87.95
3

5
Arkansas
81.39
12

6
BYU
79.37
17

7
Stanford
77.73
7

8
Texas
74.17
13

9
Penn State
72.10
8

10
Oklahoma
70.26
15

11
Florida State
67.79
9

12
Oregon
65.65
6

13
Wisconsin
59.95
27

14
Iowa
58.36
29

15
Arizona
58.17
18

16
Washington
57.76
20

17
Nebraska
56.64
14

18
Texas Tech
56.52
4

19
Alabama
56.20
34

20
Kansas State
56.08
22

21
Ohio State
52.68
16

22
Georgia
43.99
21

23
Clemson
42.39
36

24
Auburn
41.79
11

25
Minnesota
41.64
31

Dropped out: No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 19 California, No. 23 North Carolina, No. 24 Oklahoma State, No. 25 Baylor


Men's Conference Index Top 10

Rank
Conference
Points
Top 25 Teams

1
SEC
679.38
6

2
Big 12
484.12
6

3
Big Ten
423.93
6

4
Pac-10
350.50
4

5
ACC
244.59
2

6
Mountain West
89.00
1

7
Conference USA
65.16

8
Big Sky
59.04

9
BIG EAST
55.84

10
Big South
43.61



USTFCCCA

NCAA Division I

Women's Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings

2011 Week #4 - February 15

next ranking: February 22 (Week 5)


Rank
School
Points
Last Week

1
Oregon
199.68
1

2
LSU
147.60
3

3
Texas
118.61
8

4
Arkansas
117.93
6

5
Texas A&M
112.65
2

6
Tennessee
98.57
5

7
Florida State
95.87
10

8
UCF
79.41
17

9
Oklahoma
79.20
15

10
BYU
71.50
7

11
Nebraska
69.32
14

12
Arizona
66.74
13

13
Michigan
61.18
40

14
Southern Illinois
55.33
11

15
Clemson
50.21
4

16
TCU
49.69
22

17
Texas Tech
45.70
18

18
Baylor
42.52
30

19
Connecticut
40.58
39

20
Arizona State
39.19
24

21
Stanford
39.00
33

22
Florida
38.79
46

23
Auburn
35.21
9

24
Duke
33.82
36

25
Indiana
32.31
20

Dropped out: No. 12 West Virginia, No. 16 Villanova, No. 19 Penn State, No. 21 South Carolina, No. 23 Louisville, No. 25 Georgetown


Women's Conference Index Top 10

Rank
Conference
Points
Top 25 Teams

1
Big 12
556.95
6

2
SEC
536.11
5

3
Pac-10
397.11
4

4
ACC
265.22
3

5
Big Ten
210.22
2

6
Conference USA
169.10
1

7
Mountain West
164.05
2

8
BIG EAST
163.43
1

9
Missouri Valley
122.80
1

10
America East
36.31










About the Rankings

For more on the rankings and links to guideline and rationale information visit …

http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-i-rankings



The purpose and methodology of the national team computer rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national-title race – not as a method to compare teams head-to-head.



The Regional Index is determined using a similar method as national rankings, but on a smaller scale, comparing teams versus others within the same region. The result is a ranking that showcases squads with better all-around team potential -- a group makeup critical for conference or similar team-scored events. A team may achieve a better regional ranking than a counterpart that has a better national ranking. Historically, some teams are better national-championship teams than conference-championship teams, having a few elite athletes that score very well in a diverse environment where teams do not have entries in more than a few events. Some teams are better at conference championships or similar team-scored events where they enter, and are competitive, in many of the events.



How a team fares in a national championship, conference championship, or scored meet with only a couple or few teams (like a dual or triangular) can be very different, given the number of events, competition, scoring, and makeup of entries -- thus the rationale behind each of the ranking systems. Similar arguments about team makeup and rankings can also be found in swimming & diving and wrestling as their sports also have a similar trichotomy when it comes to team theory.









---

Tom Lewis

U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association

Communications Manager

1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750

New Orleans, LA 70163

(O) 504-599-8904 (F) 504-599-8909

Email: tom@ustfccca.org

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