Oregon Women Take Over Division I Indoor National Team Computer Rankings

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Oregon Women Take Over Division I Indoor National Team Computer Rankings
January 28, 2014

NEW ORLEANS – Behind breakout first-year campaigns for a pair of young Ducklings, four-time defending women’s team champion Oregon jumped to the top spot in the first regular-season edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday, while the defending champion Arkansas men remained No. 1.

NCAA DIVISION I NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS TOP 5: WOMEN
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Oregon
190.08 pts Texas
170.51 pts Texas A&M
159.92 pts Florida
140.71 pts Georgia
131.05 pts
View Complete Women’s National Team Computer Rankings
Though such veterans as National Athlete of the Week Laura Roesler and Phyllis Francis – both members of the Preseason Watch List for The Bowerman – and Jenna Prandini already living up to preseason expectations, Oregon flew three spots up the rankings to No. 1 for the first time since the end of the 2012 regular season after starting the season at No. 4 largely because of the emergence of first-year Ducks Jasmine Todd and Sasha Wallace.

Todd, with just two collegiate competitions under her belt, is already the collegiate leader in the long jump and ranked No. 2 at 60 meters, while Wallace is fourth in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles. Neither were taken into account in the preseason rankings.

NCAA DIVISION I NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS TOP 5: MEN
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Arkansas
219.84 pts Florida
174.08 pts Oregon
155.55 pts Wisconsin
113.88 pts Texas A&M
113.74 pts
View Complete Men’s National Team Computer Rankings
The season is still young, but Oregon is now projected by the computers as the favorite to claim the NCAA Division I Indoor title for the fifth consecutive year. Only LSU’s women from 1993 through 1997 has accomplished that feat indoors.

Other than Oregon’s ascension to No. 1, both the men’s and women’s top-fives remained relatively unchanged. The Ducks’ move pushed the former top-three teams each down one spot: Texas to No. 2, Texas A&M to No. 3 and Florida to No. 4. Georgia remained No. 5.

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On the men’s side Arkansas held steady atop the rankings, followed by No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 5 Texas A&M.

The national team rankings will be complied by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. For the preseason ranking and early-season rankings, data will be taken from previous seasons as well as the current season.

The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. A full description of the rankings can be found here.

The USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings should not be referred to as a "poll” as no voting occurs during the process.

Women’s Rankings
Despite winning its fourth-consecutive national team crown indoors last year, Oregon did so having not been ranked as the No. 1 team at any point during the 2013 season. This marks the first time atop the rankings for the Ducks since they had Division I indoor rankings in a stranglehold for 20 consecutive weeks as the top-ranked team from the middle of the 2010 season through the end of the end of 2012.

With 190.08 rankings points, the Ducks now hold an approximately 20-point advantage over formerly top-ranked Texas at No. 2.

As previously mentioned, the duo of Todd and Wallace were behind the Ducks’ rise to No. 1, accounting for 53.3 points between three events in Oregon’s 64-point improvement of its preseason mark.

No. 2 Texas, which has yet to fully open competition as a complete team, may have dropped a spot but its score remained relatively steady – within five points – at 170.50.

In-state rival No. 3 Texas A&M also fell one spot in the rankings, but actually marginally improved its rankings score to 159.91 to drawn nearer to Oregon and Texas. Sprinter Olivia Ekpone played a large role in the gain, as she improved to No. 5 in 2014 at 60 meters and No. 8 at 200 meters, as did sixth-ranked weight thrower Brea Garrett.

No. 4 Florida slipped both in terms of position and rankings score, falling six points for a score of 140.70, while SEC rival No. 5 Georgia closed what had been a nearly 40-point gap between itself and the No. 4 spot to approximately nine points with 131.05. A pair of first-year student-athletes came through big for the Bulldogs in newly minted American Junior indoor pentathlon record holder Kendell Williams and second-ranked high jumper Leonita Kallenou.

Rounding out the top-10 were No. 6 Kentucky (105.83), No. 7 Arkansas (95.41), No. 8 LSU (68.10), No. 9 Stanford (67.37) and No. 10 Kansas (59.23).

Just outside the top 10, No. 11 Providence was up one spot to its highest indoor rank since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2008. Also attaining their highest ranks since 2008 were No. 13 Dartmouth and No. 14 Purdue.

Baylor made the biggest advance of all the women’s teams, jumping seven spots to No. 19.

Men’s Rankings
Top-ranked defending champion Arkansas saw its rankings score advantage over No. 2 Florida shrink ever so slightly since the preseason rankings in early January, but the Razorbacks still remained nearly 46 points clear of the Gators with a score of 219.84.

This week marked the 15th time in the past 18 editions of the rankings in which Arkansas has been the top-ranked team, and the 10th time in a row.

Florida, national champions in the three years prior to Arkansas’ most recent 2013 title, held steady at No. 2 with 174.08 rankings points.

Marking time at No. 3 was Oregon with 155.55 points.

Separated by only a point in the preseason, both No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 5 Texas A&M improved their rankings scores by approximately 15 points to 113.88 and 113.74, respectively.

The Badgers were boosted by Michael Lihrman’s jump to No. 2 in the weight throw, while the Aggies’ former National Athlete of the Week Prezel Hardy, Jr., powered Texas A&M with the nation’s top raw performances at 60 and 200 meters.

No. 6 Florida State moved up one spot from the preseason, swapping places with now-No.7 Penn State. Arizona jumped nine spots to No. 8, dropping Nebraska back one spot to No. 9. Oklahoma State held steady at No. 10 to complete the top 10.

The appearance in the top 10 is the first for the Arizona men since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2008.

Just beyond the top 10 was No. 11 Arizona State, which improved 10 spots. But it wasn’t the Sun Devils, or even No. 16 Cornell which improved 12 spots, that claimed the honor of biggest top-25 gainer. That honor went to No. 24 Houston, up 19 spots from early January.

No. 13 UTEP improved nine spots for its highest ranking since the inception of the USTFCCCA rankings. The Miners were joined in that category by No. 16 Cornell, No. 17 Alabama (tied its best), and No. 24 Houston.

USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION I
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #1 — January 28
next ranking: February 4

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Arkansas 219.84 SEC Chris Bucknam (6th) 1
2 Florida 174.08 SEC Mike Holloway (12th) 2
3 Oregon 155.55 MPSF Robert Johnson (2nd) 3
4 Wisconsin 113.88 Big Ten Mick Byrne (1st) 4
5 Texas A&M 113.74 SEC Pat Henry (10th) 5
6 Florida State 92.92 ACC Bob Braman (11th) 7
7 Penn State 73.55 Big Ten Beth Alford-Sullivan (8th) 6
8 Arizona 65.46 MPSF Fred Harvey (12th) 17
9 Nebraska 62.12 Big Ten Gary Pepin (31st) 8
10 Oklahoma State 53.16 Big 12 Dave Smith (6th) 10
11 Arizona State 49.39 MPSF Greg Kraft (18th) 21
12 Mississippi State 43.92 Independent (DI) Steve Dudley (4th) 11
13 UTEP 43.33 Conference USA Mika Laaksonen (5th) 22
14 Colorado 42.50 MPSF Mark Wetmore (19th) 14
15 Minnesota 42.37 Big Ten Steve Plasencia (6th) 9
16 Cornell 41.92 Ivy Nathan Taylor (15th) 28
17 Alabama 40.47 SEC Dan Waters (3rd) 24
18 Illinois 38.31 Big Ten Mike Turk (5th) 12
19 Texas 36.04 Big 12 Mario Sategna (1st) 15
20 Stanford 35.72 MPSF Chris Miltenberg (2nd) 20
21 Georgia 35.72 SEC Wayne Norton (15th) 13
22 Mississippi 34.22 SEC Brian O’Neal (2nd) 16
23 Baylor 33.86 Big 12 Todd Harbour (9th) 18
24 Houston 33.32 American Leroy Burrell (16th) 43
25 Virginia Tech 32.84 ACC Dave Cianelli (13th) 19
Dropped out: No. 23 Princeton, No. 25 LSU
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25



Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 SEC 704.65 6
2 MPSF 429.62 5
3 Big Ten 427.58 5
4 ACC 222.78 2
5 Big 12 216.20 3
6 Ivy 92.00 1
7 Conference USA 89.03 1
8 Independent (DI) 74.25 1
9 Mid-American 63.22
10 American 50.33 1



USTFCCCA NCAA DIVISION I
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS (TOP 25)
2014 Week #1 — January 28
next ranking: February 4

Rank School Points Conference Head Coach (Yr) Last Week
1 Oregon 190.08 MPSF Robert Johnson (2nd) 4
2 Texas 170.51 Big 12 Mario Sategna (1st) 1
3 Texas A&M 159.92 SEC Pat Henry (10th) 2
4 Florida 140.71 SEC Mike Holloway (7th) 3
5 Georgia 131.05 SEC Wayne Norton (15th) 5
6 Kentucky 105.83 SEC Edrick Floreal (2nd) 6
7 Arkansas 95.41 SEC Lance Harter (24th) 7
8 LSU 68.10 SEC Dennis Shaver (10th) 8
9 Stanford 67.37 MPSF Chris Miltenberg (2nd) 9
10 Kansas 59.23 Big 12 Stanley Redwine (14th) 10
11 Providence 57.83 Big East Ray Treacy (30th) 12
12 Michigan 53.79 Big Ten James Henry (29th) 13
13 Dartmouth 52.39 Ivy Sandra Ford-Centonze (22nd) 14
14 Purdue 51.31 Big Ten Rolando Greene (2nd) 17
15 South Carolina 47.67 SEC Curtis Frye (18th) 11
16 Mississippi State 47.63 SEC Steve Dudley (4th) 15
17 Florida State 44.24 ACC Bob Braman (11th) 19
18 Washington 44.10 MPSF Greg Metcalf (12th) 20
19 Baylor 39.49 Big 12 Todd Harbour (9th) 26
20 Georgetown 38.83 Big East Patrick Henner (7th) 18
21 Kent State 38.12 Mid-American Bill Lawson (9th) 16
22 Arizona State 36.93 MPSF Greg Kraft (18th) 23
23 Villanova 36.03 Big East Gina Procaccio (14th) 22
24 Iowa State 34.24 Big 12 Martin Smith (1st) 28
25 Harvard 33.41 Ivy Jason Saretsky (8th) 24
Dropped out: No. 21 Maryland, No. 25 Akron
View All Teams Beyond the Top 25






Women’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank Conference Points Top 25 Teams
1 SEC 868.56 8
2 MPSF 420.60 4
3 Big 12 376.77 4
4 ACC 210.35 1
5 Big Ten 198.07 2
6 Big East 144.88 3
7 Ivy 95.99 2
8 Mid-American 72.18 1
9 Conference USA 51.26
10 Mountain West 50.76





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