Top of NCAA DI Men’s Rankings Hold Steady
NEW ORLEANS – Let’s call this week the calm before the storm in NCAA Division I Track & Field.
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Each of the top nine men’s teams in the country held onto their positions from last time in the week three National Team Computer Rankings, announced Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
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Texas A&M (286.06 ranking points) remained atop the leaderboard, followed by No. 2 Florida (253.30), No. 3 Oregon (247.27), No. 4 Texas (219.61) and No. 5 LSU (208.06). Remember, these point totals take into account both the top performances from this current season and the top marks from previous years by returning athletes.
However, expect a lot to change next week.
Next week’s edition of the rankings are the first that only take into account times and marks from the 2016 campaign (aside from the 5000, 10,000 and decathlon).
Top-ranked Texas A&M got a bit of a boost this past weekend from Hector Hernandez, who moved to No. 8 on the USTFCCCA list (this year and last year) at 800 meters. The Aggies are off to Baylor this weekend for the Michael Johnson Invitational.
No. 2 Florida and No. 3 Oregon dropped fewer than five points each on quiet weekends for both programs. The Gators will host the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational this weekend and the Ducks are idle; both teams are then off to the Penn Relays to close out April.
The Gators could have significant points coming off the board next week as neither No. 1 Najee Glass nor No. 4 Hugh Graham, Jr., has run at 400 meters this season.
No. 4 Texas picked up eight points as Aldrich Bailey, Jr., moved up to No. 11 at 200 meters. No. 5 LSU added 14 points as Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake dashed to No. 7 at 100 meters.
Texas will travel to LSU this weekend for the Alumni Gold Meet.
No. 6 Virginia (184.67), No. 7 Arkansas (172.36), No. 8 Georgia (159.11) and No. 9 Alabama (155.24), while No. 10 Texas Tech (136.25) moved up two spots to round out the top 10.
The biggest moves of the week for teams in the top-25 came by way of No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 Tennessee, who improved 16 and 12 positions, respectively.
The National Team Computer Rankings are complied by a mathematical formula based on national descending order lists. 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. Preseason marks will be included through week three of the rankings.
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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2016 Week #3 — April 18 |
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| next ranking: April 25 | |||||
| Rank | Institution | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
| 1 | Texas A&M | 286.06 | SEC | Pat Henry (12th) | 1 |
| 2 | Florida | 253.30 | SEC | Mike Holloway (14th) | 2 |
| 3 | Oregon | 247.27 | Pac-12 | Robert Johnson (4th) | 3 |
| 4 | Texas | 219.61 | Big 12 | Mario Sategna (3rd) | 4 |
| 5 | LSU | 208.06 | SEC | Dennis Shaver (12th) | 5 |
| 6 | Virginia | 184.67 | ACC | Bryan Fetzer (5th) | 6 |
| 7 | Arkansas | 172.36 | SEC | Chris Bucknam (8th) | 7 |
| 8 | Georgia | 159.11 | SEC | Petros Kyprianou (1st) | 8 |
| 9 | Alabama | 155.24 | SEC | Dan Waters (5th) | 9 |
| 10 | Texas Tech | 136.25 | Big 12 | Wes Kittley (17th) | 12 |
| 11 | South Carolina | 124.81 | SEC | Curtis Frye (20th) | 10 |
| 12 | Penn State | 119.24 | Big Ten | John Gondak (2nd) | 18 |
| 13 | Illinois | 119.23 | Big Ten | Mike Turk (7th) | 11 |
| 14 | Tulsa | 115.19 | American | Steve Gulley (14th) | 13 |
| 15 | Southern California | 105.49 | Pac-12 | Caryl Smith Gilbert (3rd) | 14 |
| 16 | Ohio State | 104.96 | Big Ten | Karen Dennis (2nd) | 15 |
| 17 | Oklahoma State | 96.90 | Big 12 | Dave Smith (8th) | 19 |
| 18 | Stanford | 94.63 | Pac-12 | Chris Miltenberg (4th) | 16 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 94.53 | ACC | Harlis Meaders (4th) | 20 |
| 20 | Middle Tennessee | 89.80 | Conference USA | Dean Hayes (52nd) | 22 |
| 21 | Colorado | 83.77 | Pac-12 | Mark Wetmore (21st) | 17 |
| 22 | Virginia Tech | 81.10 | ACC | Dave Cianelli (15th) | 21 |
| 23 | UCLA | 78.60 | Pac-12 | Mike Maynard (7th) | 39 |
| 24 | Tennessee | 77.15 | SEC | Beth Alford-Sullivan (2nd) | 36 |
| 25 | TCU | 77.11 | Big 12 | Darryl Anderson (12th) | 24 |
| dropped out: No. 23 Washington, No. 25 Penn | |||||
| View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 | |||||
| Men’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | SEC | 1700.58 | 7 |
| 2 | Pac-12 | 890.50 | 5 |
| 3 | ACC | 780.74 | 3 |
| 4 | Big 12 | 750.27 | 4 |
| 5 | Big Ten | 720.59 | 3 |
| 6 | American | 305.43 | 1 |
| 7 | Conference USA | 250.03 | 1 |
| 8 | Missouri Valley | 132.41 | |
| 9 | Sun Belt | 110.36 | |
| 10 | Ivy | 104.40 | 1 |
| Men’s Regional Index Leaders | |||
| Region | Institution | Points | Last Week |
| Great Lakes | Michigan | 660.23 | 5 |
| Mid-Atlantic | Penn State | 838.98 | 2 |
| Midwest | Nebraska | 658.63 | 1 |
| Mountain | BYU | 1003.82 | 1 |
| Northeast | Cornell | 732.62 | 3 |
| South | Georgia | 685.79 | 1 |
| South Central | Texas A&M | 923.98 | 1 |
| Southeast | South Carolina | 590.39 | 1 |
| West | Oregon | 744.51 | 1 |
| View All Regional Rankings | |||
