Oregon Women Take Over Division I Indoor National Team Computer Rankings

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.

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.