Indoor NCAA Champs Florida, Oregon Start Outdoor Season as Top-Ranked Squads

NEW ORLEANS – The men of Florida and the women of Oregon will begin the 2012 outdoor track & field season as the top team in the country according to the National Team Computer Rankings posted by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Both squads are coming off the indoor season where they claimed respective NCAA Championships for the third-straight year.

Florida is the preseason men’s outdoor favorite for the third-straight year while Oregon is the outdoor preseason favorite for the first time in the five years in which preseason computer rankings have been used. The women’s preseason No. 1 has went on to win the last four national titles.

National Ranking PDFs: Top 25 | Full by Team | Event-by-Event | Week-by-Week
Regional Index: (returns April 3)
Previous Rankings

Texas A&M is the three-time defending championship team on both the men’s and women’s sides. The Aggies open at No. 6 and No. 7 in the men’s and women’s rankings, respectively.

Preseason national team rankings are calculated using data from previous seasons as a base of evaluation. Marks gained in the early part of this season will supersede previous-year marks if they are superior.

Florida’s men finished third at the 2011 outdoor championships with 53 points, just two behind Texas A&M (55) and one behind runner-up and Florida State (54). The Gators lost jumping extraordinaire Christian Taylor and Will Claye to the professional ranks, but return several national scorers including quartermiler Tony McQuay, sprinter Jeff Demps, decathlete Gray Horn, and national indoor triple jump champ Omar Craddock.

For No. 2 Florida State, the Seminoles lost 2011 winner of The Bowerman Ngoni Makusha to the pros, but keep Maurice Mitchell for the 2012 campaign. Mitchell won the 200 meters at last year’s outdoor championship and was third in the 100.

On the women’s side, Oregon placed second at last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championship with 45 points, just four behind Texas A&M’s 49.

The Ducks return three-time indoor pentathlon champion Brianne Theisen for her senior campaign and will also lean heavily on distance standouts Jordan Hasay, Anne Kesselring, and Becky Friday – among others. Oregon also has been effective in the sprints as English Gardner won the indoor 60-meter crown.

LSU is ranked second in the women’s rankings and third on the men’s side to start the season. The Tiger women will have several in the mix in the sprints, hurdles, and relays.

Among conferences, the SEC leads all leagues with 1287.71 ranking points and seven teams in the nation’s top 25 to start the season. The Big 12 is currently the top women’s conference with 1261.75 ranking points and also seven teams in the top 25.

The NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held June 6-9 in Des Moines, Iowa, and hosted by Drake University. Preliminary rounds will be conducted May 24-26 in Austin, Texas (West site) and Jacksonville, Fla. (East site).

Outdoor Preseason Rankings in Past Years:

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.