Preseason DI Outdoor T&F National Team Computer Rankings Favor Arkansas Men & Texas A&M Women
NEW ORLEANS – Arkansas’ men and Texas A&M’s women are the preseason favorites to win the national team titles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday.
Based on the top marks from the current outdoor season in combination with the top 2013 outdoor marks by returning student-athletes, the USTFCCCA computers project the Aggies women as the significant favorites over five-time defending indoor champion Oregon, and predict a dogfight for the men’s title.
Men’s Top Five |
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1) |
2) |
3) |
4) |
5) |
| Arkansas 311.88 pts 2013: 3rd |
Florida 300.11 pts Co-Champ |
Texas A&M 296.36 pts Co-Champ |
Oregon 294.12 pts 2013: 4th |
Florida State 208.46 pts 2013: 9th |
| View Complete Men’s Rankings | ||||
Arkansas (311.88 team rankings points) finds itself atop the men’s rankings for the first time since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2008, but only narrowly over defending men’s outdoor co-champions Florida (300.11) and Texas A&M (296.36) at No. 2 and 3, respectively, and recently crowned indoor champion Oregon (294.12) at No. 4.
The Razorbacks have eight competitors ranked in the top five of their events, including second-ranked Patrick Rono (800 meters) and Stanley Kebenei (steeplechase) – not to mention a The Bowerman Watch List member in Jarrion Lawson (long jump).
A wild card for Oregon will be reigning cross country indoor 3000 and 5000 meter national champion Edward Cheserek, who will be competing in his first collegiate outdoor campaign and is not included in the preseason event rankings. Indoor marks from the 2014 season are not considered for the outdoor rankings.
Florida State (208.46) rounded out the men’s top five.
Women’s Top Five |
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| 1) |
2) |
3) |
4) |
5) |
| Texas A&M 390.30 pts 2013: 2nd |
Oregon 278.91 pts 2013: 3rd |
Texas 272.81 pts 2013: 15th |
Florida 268.84 pts 2013: 11th |
Kentucky 207.44 pts No 2013 team score |
| View Complete Women’s Rankings | ||||
With 390.30 team rankings points, the Texas A&M women’s advantage over No. 2 Oregon (278.91) is almost exactly 10 times greater than that of the Arkansas men over Florida.
Top-ranked Kamaria Brown (200 meters) of The Bowerman Watch List and the nation’s No. 1 4×100 relay headline a corps of 10 Texas A&M athletes/relay teams ranked among the top five in their respective events.
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The computers favor the Aggies so overwhelmingly that only four other teams are within 200 points of them.
That group includes No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Texas (272.81), No. 4 Florida (268.84) and No. 5 Kentucky (207.44). Despite winning the indoor title in each of the past five seasons, the Ducks have yet to sweep the indoor/outdoor national team titles, having finished third last year and second in each of the three years prior.
Defending outdoor national team champion Kansas will start the spring of 2014 at No. 10.
Arkansas and Texas A&M are in good position if recent history is any indicator. Since its inception in 2008, the USTFCCCA rankings have been remarkably accurate in predicting the men’s and women’s outdoor team champions in Division I.
Five of the six women’s team that have been ranked No. 1 during that span have gone on to win the national title, as have four of the six men’s teams – or at least claim a share of the title as was the case with Texas A&M last 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.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division I |
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Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
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2014 Preseason — March 25 |
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| next ranking: April 8 | |||||
| Rank | School | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | 2013 FINAL |
| 1 | Arkansas | 311.88 | SEC | Chris Bucknam (6th) | 3 |
| 2 | Florida | 300.11 | SEC | Mike Holloway (12th) | 1 |
| 3 | Texas A&M | 296.36 | SEC | Pat Henry (10th) | 1 |
| 4 | Oregon | 294.12 | Pac-12 | Robert Johnson (2nd) | 4 |
| 5 | Florida State | 208.46 | ACC | Bob Braman (11th) | 9 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | 168.62 | Big Ten | Mick Byrne (1st) | 15 |
| 7 | Georgia | 165.54 | SEC | Wayne Norton (15th) | 49 |
| 8 | LSU | 164.02 | SEC | Dennis Shaver (10th) | 7 |
| 9 | UCLA | 161.98 | Pac-12 | Mike Maynard (5th) | 12 |
| 10 | Alabama | 159.89 | SEC | Dan Waters (3rd) | 11 |
| 11 | Nebraska | 153.11 | Big Ten | Gary Pepin (31st) | 15 |
| 12 | Mississippi | 149.74 | SEC | Brian O’Neal (2nd) | 8 |
| 13 | Southern California | 144.63 | Pac-12 | Caryl Smith Gilbert (1st) | 5 |
| 14 | Texas Tech | 140.92 | Big 12 | Wes Kittley (15th) | 24 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 123.66 | SEC | J.J. Clark (5th) | 77 |
| 16 | Arizona | 117.42 | Pac-12 | Fred Harvey (12th) | 10 |
| 17 | Baylor | 115.83 | Big 12 | Todd Harbour (9th) | 58 |
| 18 | Texas | 107.86 | Big 12 | Mario Sategna (1st) | 6 |
| 19 | Penn State | 98.95 | Big Ten | Beth Alford-Sullivan (8th) | 14 |
| 20 | BYU | 96.42 | Independent (DI) | Ed Eyestone (1st) | 24 |
| 21 | Cornell | 87.01 | Ivy | Nathan Taylor (15th) | 49 |
| 22 | Arizona State | 86.70 | Pac-12 | Greg Kraft (18th) | 28 |
| 23 | Stanford | 84.28 | Pac-12 | Chris Miltenberg (2nd) | NR |
| 24 | California | 83.37 | Pac-12 | Tony Sandoval (22nd) | NR |
| 25 | Illinois | 77.65 | Big Ten | Mike Turk (5th) | 49 |
| View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 | |||||
| Men’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | SEC | 1885.56 | 8 |
| 2 | Pac-12 | 1063.82 | 7 |
| 3 | Big Ten | 746.59 | 4 |
| 4 | Big 12 | 703.33 | 3 |
| 5 | ACC | 582.38 | 1 |
| 6 | Conference USA | 255.23 | |
| 7 | Ivy | 185.48 | 1 |
| 8 | Mountain West | 146.59 | |
| 9 | American | 139.47 | |
| 10 | Missouri Valley | 98.30 | |
USTFCCCA NCAA Division I |
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Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
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2014 Preseason — March 25 |
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| next ranking: April 8 | |||||
| Rank | School | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | 2013 FINAL |
| 1 | Texas A&M | 390.30 | SEC | Pat Henry (10th) | 2 |
| 2 | Oregon | 278.91 | Pac-12 | Robert Johnson (2nd) | 3 |
| 3 | Texas | 272.81 | Big 12 | Mario Sategna (1st) | 15 |
| 4 | Florida | 268.84 | SEC | Mike Holloway (7th) | 11 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 207.44 | SEC | Edrick Floreal (2nd) | NR |
| 6 | Georgia | 170.48 | SEC | Wayne Norton (15th) | 11 |
| 7 | Southern California | 160.30 | Pac-12 | Caryl Smith Gilbert (1st) | 21 |
| 8 | LSU | 152.06 | SEC | Dennis Shaver (10th) | 4 |
| 9 | Arizona | 151.40 | Pac-12 | Fred Harvey (12th) | 6 |
| 10 | Kansas | 151.25 | Big 12 | Stanley Redwine (14th) | 1 |
| 11 | San Diego State | 137.19 | Mountain West | Shelia Burrell (5th) | 23 |
| 12 | Florida State | 130.86 | ACC | Bob Braman (11th) | 29 |
| 13 | UCLA | 129.00 | Pac-12 | Mike Maynard (2nd) | 20 |
| 14 | Arkansas | 128.40 | SEC | Lance Harter (24th) | 8 |
| 15 | Stanford | 125.40 | Pac-12 | Chris Miltenberg (2nd) | 6 |
| 16 | Texas Tech | 109.48 | Big 12 | Wes Kittley (15th) | 49 |
| 17 | Penn State | 107.90 | Big Ten | Beth Alford-Sullivan (15th) | 29 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 105.11 | ACC | Joe Piane (39th) | 39 |
| 19 | Washington | 104.83 | Pac-12 | Greg Metcalf (12th) | 29 |
| 20 | South Carolina | 102.28 | SEC | Curtis Frye (18th) | 45 |
| 21 | Arizona State | 92.72 | Pac-12 | Greg Kraft (18th) | 10 |
| 22 | Providence | 90.12 | Big East | Ray Treacy (30th) | 49 |
| 23 | UCF | 87.37 | American | Jeanette Bolden (1st) | 5 |
| 24 | Connecticut | 78.17 | American | Bill Morgan (11th) | NR |
| 25 | Baylor | 77.09 | Big 12 | Todd Harbour (9th) | NR |
| View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 | |||||
| Women’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | SEC | 1653.73 | 7 |
| 2 | Pac-12 | 1127.64 | 7 |
| 3 | Big 12 | 883.04 | 4 |
| 4 | ACC | 600.28 | 2 |
| 5 | Big Ten | 452.53 | 1 |
| 6 | American | 280.23 | 2 |
| 7 | Mountain West | 244.24 | 1 |
| 8 | Big East | 202.73 | 1 |
| 9 | Mid-American | 186.93 | |
| 10 | Ivy | 158.29 | |
