Conference Title Not Enough to Keep Arkansas No. 1; Two-Time Champs Florida Moves Up
NEW ORLEANS – Call it a stroke of odd timing, but despite winning the SEC title, Arkansas fell from No. 1 to No. 2 in the latest USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings for indoor track & field in Division I. Two-time defending national champions Florida took over the nation’s top spot as their runner-up bid at the SEC meet turned out more arrows for their NCAA-meet quiver. Oregon’s women are still No. 1 despite Stanford’s claim to the MPSF crown.
National Ranking PDFs: Top 25 | Full by Team | Event-by-Event | Week-by-Week
Regional Index PDFs:Top 15 by Region | Full by Team | Event-by-Event
Collegiate-Leading Marks | Best Marks by Football Players
Previous Rankings
Arkansas topped Florida in the SEC Championships, 151-137, but the Gators were able to turn out eight season bests among their nationally-ranked marks to push them ahead of the Hogs. Florida returns to No. 1 for the first time since preseason rankings were released on January 10.
Among Florida’s improvements to their season ledger, sprinter Jeff Demps improved his national seed time in the 60 meters with a collegiate-leading 6.54 in the preliminary round. Junior Tony McQuay clocked 46.11 in the 400 meters on the oversized track in that event’s preliminary round. His time was even faster in the final, but he was disqualified after cutting off Georgia’s Torrin Lawrence at the top of the final turn. Junior Omar Craddock is currently the No. 2 seed in the triple jump, senior Kemal Mesic is the nation’s second-best performer in the shot put this season, and senior Gray Horn has the nation’s second-best heptathlon score. The Gators also have additional current top-five seeds by freshman Hugh Graham, Jr. (400 meters), sophomore Sean Obinwa (800 meters), and freshman Marquis Dendy (long jump).
Arkansas won their second indoor SEC title in three years, propelled by a mile, DMR anchor double win by freshman Patrick Rono. Freshman Andrew Irwin also set a new collegiate-leading mark in the pole vault with a mark of 18-1¾ (5.53m).
As it stands now, at the national championships, the possible rematch spots between Arkansas and Florida appear to be in the 400 meters and the heptathlon – key events for both squads in the bid for the NCAA title.
No. 3 Texas A&M won their second-straight indoor Big 12 title in their final appearance in the league. The Aggies join the SEC next year. Junior Ameer Weeb was one of A&M’s four individual champs in the meet. Webb ran a collegiate-leading 20.62 in the 200 meters.
LSU stayed at No. 4 while Arizona went up a spot to No. 5. BYU jumped eight spots to No. 8. The Cougars’ DMR squad ran a NCAA top-seed 9:29.00 on the oversized track in their MPSF Championship debut.
The SEC claims seven squads in the national top 25. The Big 12, Big Ten, and Pac-12 follow with four teams in the top 25.
Oregon’s women are in the top spot once again. The Ducks seemed to take a laid-back approach to the MPSF Championships last weekend, but finished in third place despite holding out some of their top nationally-ranked athletes.
Arkansas moved up two spots to No. 2, their highest ranking of the season, after a good weekend at the SEC Championships where they took third place, behind Florida and LSU. Arkansas senior Kristen Gillespie captured the league’s mile and 3000-meter championship title. Senior Tina Sutej reset her own collegiate record in the pole vault with a clearance of 14-11 (4.55m).
Clemson stayed at No. 3, but dominated the ACC Championships, winning their third-straight league crown. The Tigers took the title, 166-87 over nearest competitor Florida State. Freshman Dezerea Bryant swept the 60 (7.25) and 200 (23.26), improving her season bests in both.
LSU slipped two spots to No. 4 while Big 12 Champs Texas A&M stayed at No. 5. Aggie freshman Kamaria Brown notched a collegiate-leading 200-meter time of 22.86 for the conference crown.
Kansas moved up to No. 6 after recording a collegiate-leading 3:31.36 in the 4×400 relay to close out the Big 12 Championships. In addition, junior Andrea Geubelle recorded a new collegiate-leader in the triple jump with a winning mark of 44-7 (13.59m).
New to the women’s top ten this week is No. 8 California, No. 9 BYU, and No. 10 Washington.
The SEC leads all leagues with six teams in the top 25. The Pac-12 and Big 12 each have five in the mix.
With the exception of the SWAC Conference Championships and IC4A/ECAC Championships, this upcoming weekend for many squads is viewed as a last chance for qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Next week’s rankings will include only those athletes that were declared and accepted into the NCAA Championships.
The 2012 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held in Nampa, Idaho, on March 9-10.
USTFCCCA NCAA Division I |
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Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
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2012 Week #6 — February 28 |
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| next ranking: March 6 (pre-NCAA) | |||||
| Rank | School | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
| 1 | Florida | 188.49 | SEC | Mike Holloway (10th) | 2 |
| 2 | Arkansas | 135.65 | SEC | Chris Bucknam (4th) | 1 |
| 3 | Texas A&M | 123.78 | Big 12 | Pat Henry (8th) | 3 |
| 4 | LSU | 104.93 | SEC | Dennis Shaver (8th) | 4 |
| 5 | Arizona | 96.68 | Pac-12 | Fred Harvey (10th) | 6 |
| 6 | Texas | 92.10 | Big 12 | Bubba Thornton (17th) | 5 |
| 7 | Arizona State | 86.48 | Pac-12 | Greg Kraft (16th) | 7 |
| 8 | BYU | 76.03 | West Coast | Mark Robison (12th) | 16 |
| 9 | Minnesota | 75.76 | Big Ten | Steve Plasencia (4th) | 8 |
| 10 | Stanford | 73.66 | Pac-12 | Edrick Floreal (7th) | 12 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 68.71 | ACC | Dave Cianelli (11th) | 9 |
| 12 | Mississippi State | 66.90 | SEC | Steve Dudley (2nd) | 10 |
| 13 | Indiana | 62.14 | Big Ten | Ron Helmer (5th) | 11 |
| 14 | Georgia | 59.32 | SEC | Wayne Norton (13th) | 24 |
| 15 | Kansas State | 54.36 | Big 12 | Cliff Rovelto (20th) | 14 |
| 16 | Florida State | 51.62 | ACC | Bob Braman (9th) | 20 |
| 17 | Ohio State | 44.95 | Big Ten | Robert Gary (6th) | 13 |
| 18 | Nebraska | 42.95 | Big Ten | Gary Pepin (29th) | 15 |
| 19 | Auburn | 38.76 | SEC | Ralph Spry (15th) | 17 |
| 20 | Oregon | 36.73 | Pac-12 | Vin Lananna (7th) | 19 |
| 21 | Mississippi | 36.64 | SEC | Joe Walker (28th) | 22 |
| 22 | NC State | 35.00 | ACC | Rollie Geiger (28th) | 37 |
| 23 | Princeton | 34.31 | Ivy | Fred Samara (35th) | 25 |
| 24 | Oklahoma | 33.50 | Big 12 | Martin Smith (7th) | 21 |
| 25 | Northern Arizona | 31.68 | Big Sky | Eric Heins (5th) | 23 |
| Dropped out: No. 18 Penn State | |||||
| Men’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | SEC | 649.63 | 7 |
| 2 | Big 12 | 377.92 | 4 |
| 3 | Big Ten | 355.58 | 4 |
| 4 | Pac-12 | 354.70 | 4 |
| 5 | ACC | 227.47 | 3 |
| 6 | Big East | 112.93 | |
| 7 | West Coast | 76.03 | 1 |
| 8 | Mountain West | 67.43 | |
| 9 | Ivy | 52.91 | 1 |
| 10 | Summit League | 52.67 | |
USTFCCCA NCAA Division I |
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Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25) |
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2012 Week #6 — February 28 |
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| next ranking: March 6 (pre-NCAA) | |||||
| Rank | School | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
| 1 | Oregon | 192.15 | Pac-12 | Vin Lananna (7th) | 1 |
| 2 | Arkansas | 138.55 | SEC | Lance Harter (22nd) | 4 |
| 3 | Clemson | 136.13 | ACC | Lawrence Johnson (4th) | 3 |
| 4 | LSU | 127.57 | SEC | Dennis Shaver (8th) | 2 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 110.21 | Big 12 | Pat Henry (8th) | 5 |
| 6 | Kansas | 87.43 | Big 12 | Stanley Redwine (12th) | 7 |
| 7 | Florida | 83.28 | SEC | Mike Holloway (5th) | 6 |
| 8 | California | 76.82 | Pac-12 | Tony Sandoval (20th) | 19 |
| 9 | BYU | 63.94 | West Coast | Patrick Shane (2nd) | 14 |
| 10 | Washington | 63.82 | Pac-12 | Greg Metcalf (10th) | 23 |
| 11 | Stanford | 57.20 | Pac-12 | Edrick Floreal (7th) | 18 |
| 12 | Southern Illinois | 54.50 | Missouri Valley | Connie Price-Smith (11th) | 9 |
| 13 | Arizona | 53.98 | Pac-12 | Fred Harvey (10th) | 16 |
| 14 | UCF | 53.29 | Conference USA | Caryl Smith Gilbert (5th) | 15 |
| 15 | Iowa State | 52.67 | Big 12 | Corey Ihmels (5th) | 13 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 51.63 | SEC | J.J. Clark (11th) | 8 |
| 17 | Ohio State | 51.16 | Big Ten | Karen Dennis (6th) | 10 |
| 18 | Texas | 50.61 | Big 12 | Bev Kearney (20th) | 11 |
| 19 | TCU | 44.47 | Mountain West | Darryl Anderson (8th) | 41 |
| 20 | Florida State | 43.24 | ACC | Bob Braman (9th) | 21 |
| 21 | Georgetown | 40.40 | Big East | Patrick Henner (5th) | 20 |
| 22 | Georgia | 40.11 | SEC | Wayne Norton (13th) | 30 |
| 23 | Texas Tech | 40.11 | Big 12 | Wes Kittley (13th) | 12 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 39.86 | Big Ten | Jim Stintzi (8th) | 17 |
| 25 | Auburn | 39.01 | SEC | Ralph Spry (15th) | 50 |
| Dropped out: No. 22 South Carolina, No. 24 Michigan State, No. 25 UC Santa Barbara | |||||
| Women’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | SEC | 567.51 | 6 |
| 2 | Pac-12 | 477.65 | 5 |
| 3 | Big 12 | 424.90 | 5 |
| 4 | ACC | 246.84 | 2 |
| 5 | Big Ten | 214.01 | 2 |
| 6 | Missouri Valley | 132.16 | 1 |
| 7 | Big East | 130.00 | 1 |
| 8 | Conference USA | 108.32 | 1 |
| 9 | Mountain West | 107.34 | 1 |
| 10 | West Coast | 64.94 | 1 |
About the Rankings
For more on the rankings and links to guideline and rationale information visit …
/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.
