SEC Leads NCAA DI Men’s Indoor Preseason National Team Rankings

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

January 9, 2017

NEW ORLEANS — If the Florida Gators are going to win their first NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field title since 2012, key returners and impact freshmen will lead the way according to the National Team Computer Rankings released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

NCAA Division I National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Florida	Oregon	LSU	Arkansas	Syracuse
151.28 pts	140.45 pts	123.55 pts	99.02 pts	78.15 pts
View Complete National Team Computer Rankings

Florida headlined the preseason rankings for the second consecutive year (fourth time in the past five years) and is one of three teams from the SEC in the top-4. Third-ranked LSU and fourth-ranked Arkansas joined the Gators near the top. Defending champ and second-ranked Oregon ruined the all-SEC party.
Scores were determined by using preseason event rankings that include the top marks of recent NCAA indoor track & field seasons by returning student-athletes and the top marks of the young 2017 campaign. Marks from the outdoor season are not included, nor are marks from incoming freshmen.

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NATIONAL PDFs
Top 25 | By Team | By Event
Top TFRRS Qualifiers
# of Top-10 Athletes by Team
Rankings History
By Rank | By Team | All-Time
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The closer an athlete is to the top of his or her event rankings, the more points he or she earns toward the team total. Points from all applicable athletes are added up to determine team scores.
The point system used in the rankings is not the same as the scoring system used for the NCAA Championships.
Florida saw two freshmen leave huge marks on the descending order lists this past weekend at the Clemson Orange and Purple Invitational and that vaulted Mike Holloway’s team to the top. Grant Holloway debuted in the 60 hurdles and blistered a 7.63 to put him well ahead of the competition in that event. He also ran the third fastest time over 300 meters in collegiate history at the same meet. Clayton Brown uncorked a high jump of 2.25m (7-4½) and while he leads the nation at the moment, he’s third in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings behind Christoff Bryan and Randall Cunningham when using marks from the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
When it comes to returners for the Gators, look no further than KeAndre Bates and Andres Arroyo. Bates is currently No. 1 in the nation and in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings when it comes to the long jump and is 4th in the latter in the triple jump. Arroyo is No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings when it comes to the 800.
The Ducks settled in at No. 2 and there shouldn’t need to be any questions as to who will lead them in 2017. That’s none other than Edward Cheserek, who is ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings when it comes to the 3000 and 5000. Cheserek won both of those events at NCAAs last year and anchored Oregon’s winning DMR squad. Blake Haney (mile), DaMarcus Simpson (long jump) and Nate Moore (Castro Valley HS, CA) (triple jump) are also expected to score big for the Ducks.
LSU returns two superb sprinters in Michael Cherry and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake. Cherry is the defending champ in the 400 and is No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings, while Mitchell-Blake headlines the field at 200 meters. Tremayne Acy (60/200), Lamar Bruton (400) and Donte Jackson (60) will also propel the Tigers in 2017.
Arkansas doesn’t have The Bowerman Award winner Jarrion Lawson any longer, but will be boosted by Kenzo Cotton and Clive Pullen. Cotton is 4th and 5th in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings in the 60 and 200, respectively, while Pullen comes in at 3rd in the triple jump.
Syracuse rounded out the top-5 and has three guys to thank for that: Colin Bennie, Freddie Crittenden III and Justyn Knight. Bennie is ranked 4th in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings when it comes to the 5000, Crittenden is No. 2 in the 60 hurdles and Knight is No. 2 in the 3000, which would put him head to head in another showdown with Cheserek.
Southern California came in at No. 6 in the preseason and is followed by No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Colorado State and No. 10 Stanford. This is the highest ranking in program history for the Rams and is the Cardinal’s first time in the preseason top-10 since 2015.
The 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held March 10-11 in College Station, Texas. The meet will take place on the campus of Texas A&M. Speaking of the Aggies, they checked in at No. 11 in the preseason.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
2017 Preseason — January 9
next ranking: January 23

Rank	Institution	Points	Conference	Head Coach (Yr)	2016 FINAL
1	Florida	151.28	SEC	Mike Holloway (15th)	7
2	Oregon	140.45	MPSF	Robert Johnson (5th)	1
3	LSU	123.55	SEC	Dennis Shaver (13th)	4
4	Arkansas	99.02	SEC	Chris Bucknam (9th)	2
5	Syracuse	78.15	ACC	Chris Fox (12th)	11
6	Southern California	74.34	MPSF	Caryl Smith Gilbert (4th)	27
7	Texas	71.79	Big 12		5
8	Georgia	71.47	SEC	Petros Kyprianou (2nd)	24
9	Colorado State	67.62	Mountain West	Brian Bedard (11th)	34
10	Stanford	63.33	MPSF	Chris Miltenberg (5th)	8
11	Texas A&M	63.03	SEC	Pat Henry (13th)	10
12	Texas Tech	58.84	Big 12	Wes Kittley (18th)	20
13	Tennessee	57.58	SEC	Beth Alford-Sullivan (3rd)	3
14	Oklahoma State	55.88	Big 12	Dave Smith (9th)	24
15	Cornell	53.01	Ivy	Nathan Taylor (18th)	NR
16	Virginia Tech	52.26	ACC	Dave Cianelli (16th)	15
17	Alabama	50.23	SEC	Dan Waters (6th)	64
18	Minnesota	46.34	Big Ten	Steve Plasencia (9th)	44
19	Virginia	44.50	ACC	Bryan Fetzer (6th)	8
20	Penn State	42.55	Big Ten	John Gondak (3rd)	58
21	Ohio State	40.33	Big Ten	Karen Dennis (3rd)	24
22	South Carolina	38.48	SEC	Curtis Frye (21st)	51
23	Southeastern Louisiana	37.41	Southland	Sean Brady (15th)	12
24	Oklahoma	36.15	Big 12	Jim VanHootegem (4th)	NR
25	Washington	35.99	MPSF	Greg Metcalf (15th)	6

View All Teams Beyond the Top 25

Men’s Conference Index Top 10
Rank	Conference	Points	Top 25 Teams
1	SEC	719.74	8
2	MPSF	402.88	4
3	Big Ten	333.73	3
4	Big 12	304.34	4
5	ACC	236.51	3
6	Mountain West	113.57	1
7	Ivy	73.21	1
8	American	66.94
9	Conference USA	61.78
10	Sun Belt	56.82

Men’s Regional Index Leaders
Region	Institution	Points	Last Week
Great Lakes	(returns January 23)
Mid-Atlantic	(returns January 23)
Midwest	(returns January 23)
Mountain	(returns January 23)
Northeast	(returns January 23)
South	(returns January 23)
South Central	(returns January 23)
Southeast	(returns January 23)
West	(returns January 23)
View All Regional Rankings