First NCAA DII Rankings of New Year Announced

NOTE: The first regional rankings of 2016 were also released this week.

NEW ORLEANS – The Grand Valley State men and the Lincoln (Mo.) women lead the way in the first NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings of the New Year, which were announced Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

NCAA Division II National Team Rankings Top 5 – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Grand Valley St. Adams State St. Augustine’s Minnesota State Tiffin View Complete Men’s National Coaches’ Poll   NCAA Division II National Team Rankings Top 5 – Women 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Lincoln (Mo.) Lewis Grand Valley St. Hillsdale Pittsburg State View Complete Women’s National Coaches’ Poll

Preseason data (i.e. marks by returners that were achieved in 2015 or earlier) have been removed from the rankings formula, and just about the only thing that didn’t change from the preseason was the GVSU men’s position atop the list.

Between the top-25 men’s teams and the top-25 women’s teams (50 total), only a combined three teams stayed put from their December preseason standings.

Checking in behind the Lakers were defending national indoor champion No. 2 Adams State, three-time defending outdoor national champion No. 3 Saint Augustine’s, No. 4 Minnesota State and No. 5 Tiffin.

The Lincoln (Mo.) women moved up four spots to claim their gender’s top spot in the rankings, while Lewis moved up nine spots to No. 2.

Preseason favorite Grand Valley State dropped two positions to No. 3. GLIAC rival Hillsdale fell one spot to No. 4, and Pittsburg State climbed two spots to round out the top five.

The removal of preseason data and the reliance on only current marks had even more profound effects on the remainder of the rankings.

The No. 6 Shorter women and No. 7 Minnesota State women both joined the top 10 after significant 20-spot and 26-spot improvements, respectively, while the Lincoln (Mo.) men jumped 28 spots to No. 8.

No team in either gender’s top-25 climbed as high as the No. 22 Northwest Missouri women – up 58 spots from the preseason based on their strong early campaign.

The biggest top-25 men’s gainer was No. 25 Wingate, which improved 54 spots from the preseason.

The No. 11 Missouri Southern men (up 39 spots) and the No. 18 CSU-Pueblo women (up 32 spots) also significantly elevated themselves in the rankings.

The National Team Computer Rankings formula works by assigning more points to higher-seeded athletes/relay teams in each event and sums the totals of all of each teams’ athletes (it is not analogous to the NCAA points scoring system).