D-I Rankings Keep Florida, Oregon at No. 1

On the web …

http://www.ustfccca.org/featured/d-i-rankings-keep-florida-oregon-at-no-1-both-lsu-arkansas-teams-in-national-top-three



Team-by-team, event-by-event, regional team index updates …

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



Division I Conference Championship Central summary …

http://www.ustfccca.org/division-i/ncaa-division-i-conference-championship-central-indoor-track-field





Both LSU, Arkansas Teams in National Top Three

After conference weekend, teams’ footholds start to solidify



March 1, 2011



NEW ORLEANS – After the indoor track & field season’s most active weekend where many of the nation’s conferences stage their championships, the USTFCCCA Division I National Team Rankings show a better picture for some and a more realistic view for others. Florida’s men and Oregon’s women remain the nation’s top teams in their respective rankings. Florida won their first SEC Indoor men’s title last weekend while Oregon sat out key players but still won the MPSF Championships.



Florida’s men improved their lead over No. 2 LSU with several top-notch performances from the last weekend. In the triple jump, the Gators finished 1-2-3 in the SEC and now stand that way in the NCAA performance list. Junior Christian Taylor leapt to 56-11½ (17.36m) to lead the trio, a mark that is No. 3 all-time on the indoor collegiate list.



Both Arkansas squads join the nation’s top three for the first time this season while both LSU teams are again ranked No. 2. The Lady Tigers won the SEC women’s title this past weekend. Arkansas’ Tina Sutej set a new collegiate record (14-10¾, 4.54m) in the pole vault in winning a conference title.



Back to the men, BYU enters the nation’s top five for the first time this season. The Cougars won the indoor Mountain West crown for the last time and went sub-9:30 in the distance medley relay to sit No. 3 nationally in the event. No. 6 Oregon came back to the top ten, jumping six spots, mostly due to their 9:26.78 DMR clocking at the MPSF meet.



No. 7 Texas A&M won their first indoor Big 12 team title, but fell four spots to join an in-league chain that includes No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Nebraska, and No. 10 Texas. No. 15 Virginia Tech claimed eight spots after winning the ACC title with some nationally-significant performances this past weekend. No. 24 Mississippi State enters the indoor top 25 for the first time.



On the women’s side, Texas moved down to No. 4 while Texas A&M stayed at No. 5. Florida State and Tennessee stayed at Nos. 6 and 7. BYU notched two spots up to No. 8 and Clemson returned to the top ten, rising six spots, after winning the ACC crown. Arizona moved to the top ten for the first time this year and is No. 10.



The largest move of the week came from the Ohio State women. Like a rocket, the Buckeyes moved up 23 spots to No. 15 after winning their first Big Ten title. Among several season-best performances on the weekend, junior Christina Manning and senior Letecia Wright set the national qualifying list in the 60-meter hurdles ablaze with NCAA-leading runs of 8.01 and 8.03, respectively, in the conference finals.



Auburn moved up seven spots to No. 17. Baylor moved up two spots to No. 18 as freshman Tiffani McReynolds won the Big 12 title in the 60-meter hurdles (8.11). Arizona State moved up four to No. 21 and Southern Miss makes their debut in the top 25 at No. 23, moving up 10 spots in response to the jumping of junior Ganna Demydova who claimed a mark of 45-6½ (13.88m) in winning the Conference USA triple jump crown.



Among the conference rankings, the SEC remains the top-ranked men’s conference with a huge point lead (723.07) over the Big 12 (461.23). The Big 12 and Big Ten lead with six teams in the top 25.



On the women’s side, the SEC (555.54) took over the top spot from the Big 12 (529.53). The Big 12 leads in the category of most in the top 25 with six.



This week’s rankings included all data from TFRRS through Monday. Next week’s rankings, released late next Monday evening, will include only those declared and accepted into the NCAA Indoor Championships.



USTFCCCA

NCAA Division I

Men's Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings

2011 Week #6 - March 1

next ranking: MONDAY, March 7 (Week 7)


Rank
School
Points
Last Week

1
Florida
203.58
1

2
LSU
160.66
2

3
Arkansas
131.17
5

4
Indiana
90.75
3

5
BYU
88.26
7

6
Oregon
75.20
12

7
Texas A&M
74.84
4

8
Oklahoma
69.86
9

9
Nebraska
68.56
13

10
Texas
68.36
8

11
Arizona
66.59
14

12
Stanford
66.10
6

13
Florida State
65.16
11

14
Penn State
63.75
10

15
Virginia Tech
62.48
23

16
Wisconsin
55.61
16

17
Kansas State
53.52
19

18
Texas Tech
53.37
18

19
Minnesota
50.94
20

20
Ohio State
50.82
22

21
Alabama
49.24
17

22
Washington
47.29
21

23
Iowa
43.46
15

24
Mississippi State
43.39
33

25
Clemson
40.07
25

Dropped out: No. 24 Georgia


Men's Conference Index Top 10

Rank
Conference
Points
Top 25 Teams

1
SEC
723.07
5

2
Big 12
461.23
6

3
Big Ten
394.44
6

4
Pac-10
335.81
4

5
ACC
271.03
3

6
Mountain West
108.14
1

7
Big Sky
58.92

8
BIG EAST
56.26

9
Big South
42.24

10
Conference USA
41.42



USTFCCCA

NCAA Division I

Women's Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings

2011 Week #6 - March 1

next ranking: MONDAY, March 7 (Week 7)


Rank
School
Points
Last Week

1
Oregon
217.48
1

2
LSU
147.79
2

3
Arkansas
122.50
4

4
Texas
111.64
3

5
Texas A&M
102.04
5

6
Tennessee
96.08
6

7
Florida State
92.14
7

8
BYU
83.22
10

9
Clemson
78.54
15

10
Arizona
76.35
12

11
Oklahoma
64.36
8

12
Southern Illinois
64.20
14

13
UCF
62.37
9

14
Nebraska
60.80
11

15
Ohio State
57.77
38

16
Michigan
55.40
13

17
Auburn
54.30
24

18
Baylor
49.95
20

19
Texas Tech
43.73
17

20
TCU
41.37
16

21
Arizona State
39.58
25

22
Duke
39.18
19

23
Southern Miss
37.00
33

24
Stony Brook
36.05
22

25
Georgia
34.11
30

Dropped out: No. 18 Connecticut, No. 21 Florida, No. 23 Stanford


Women's Conference Index Top 10

Rank
Conference
Points
Top 25 Teams

1
SEC
555.54
5

2
Big 12
529.53
6

3
Pac-10
407.02
3

4
ACC
310.31
3

5
Big Ten
219.63
2

6
Mountain West
178.77
2

7
Conference USA
148.80
2

8
BIG EAST
143.32

9
Missouri Valley
129.15
1

10
America East
43.19
1










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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