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
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
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.

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.