Surprisingly Quiet Week Atop Men’s NCAA DI National Rankings
NEW ORLEANS – The college track & field weekend schedule may have been busy with great meets from coast-to-coast, but the top of the latest men’s NCAA Division I National Team Rankings was anything but busy.
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Headlined for a fourth straight week by the No. 1 Texas A&M men, each of the top nine teams remained steady in the week five rankings announced Monday afternoon by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The Aggie men held off contingents from No. 2 Florida, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Arkansas and No. 8 Alabama at a rain-soaked LSU Invitational on Saturday. No. 5 Georgia was the lone top-five squad not in Baton Rouge for the weekend.
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While Texas A&M (340.58 ranking points) came out on top in the LSU Invitational, it was actually No. 2 Florida (279.06) points that benefitted the most from the weekend’s competition. The Gators improved by nearly 18 points – the most of any top-10 team – as long jumper KeAndre Bates had a big weekend to move to No. 4 nationally.
Keep in mind that though Florida finished fifth at LSU – behind Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU and Arkansas – the National Team Rankings aren’t meant to predict how teams will do in small meets. Rather, they predict success exclusively for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on June 8-11. Also, the Gators sent several key athletes to the Penn Relays.
No. 3 LSU (250.08) and No. 4 Arkansas (207.25) both gained slightly on A&M in the rankings.
Also remaining stationary were No. 5 Georgia (176.84), No. 6 Texas (175.84), No. 7 Oregon (159.44), No. 8 Alabama (154.92) and No. 9 Texas Tech (130.41).
Virginia Tech moved up three spots to No. 10, and that’s where this week’s rankings fun began. From that point on, only three teams between No. 10 and No. 25 remained in the same position as a week ago.
No team jumped up higher than the host of the meet that drove most of the changes in the bottom three-fifths of the top-25: The Payton Jordan Invitational.
Stanford jumped 22 spots to No. 16 as Sean McGorty moved to No. 2 on the USTFCCCA list at 5000 meters (which still includes previous year marks for the 5000 and 10,000) behind Edward Cheserek of Oregon, while frosh Grant Fisher came in at No. 13 on that same list.
Also making a big jump was No. 18 Northern Arizona, which climbed 13 positions behind top-ranked 10,000-meter man Futsum Zienasellassie.
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 (with the exception of marks in the combined events and the 5000 and 10,000).
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 #5 — May 2 |
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| next ranking: May 9 | |||||
| Rank | Institution | Points | Conference | Head Coach (Yr) | Last Week |
| 1 | Texas A&M | 340.58 | SEC | Pat Henry (12th) | 1 |
| 2 | Florida | 279.06 | SEC | Mike Holloway (14th) | 2 |
| 3 | LSU | 250.08 | SEC | Dennis Shaver (12th) | 3 |
| 4 | Arkansas | 207.25 | SEC | Chris Bucknam (8th) | 4 |
| 5 | Georgia | 176.84 | SEC | Petros Kyprianou (1st) | 5 |
| 6 | Texas | 175.84 | Big 12 | Mario Sategna (3rd) | 6 |
| 7 | Oregon | 159.44 | Pac-12 | Robert Johnson (4th) | 7 |
| 8 | Alabama | 154.92 | SEC | Dan Waters (5th) | 8 |
| 9 | Texas Tech | 130.41 | Big 12 | Wes Kittley (17th) | 9 | 10 | Virginia Tech | 125.66 | ACC | Dave Cianelli (15th) | 13 |
| 11 | Virginia | 117.06 | ACC | Bryan Fetzer (5th) | 10 |
| 12 | Syracuse | 113.30 | ACC | Chris Fox (11th) | 12 |
| 13 | Mississippi State | 107.52 | SEC | Steve Dudley (6th) | 15 |
| 14 | Minnesota | 104.71 | Big Ten | Steve Plasencia (8th) | 11 |
| 15 | Penn State | 97.35 | Big Ten | John Gondak (2nd) | 14 |
| 16 | Stanford | 94.27 | Pac-12 | Chris Miltenberg (4th) | 38 |
| 17 | UCLA | 93.78 | Pac-12 | Mike Maynard (7th) | 16 |
| 18 | Northern Arizona | 88.99 | Big Sky | Eric Heins (9th) | 31 |
| 19 | South Carolina | 86.44 | SEC | Curtis Frye (20th) | 17 |
| 20 | TCU | 82.42 | Big 12 | Darryl Anderson (12th) | 19 |
| 21 | Middle Tennessee | 78.10 | Conference USA | Dean Hayes (52nd) | 21 |
| 22 | Houston | 76.23 | American | Leroy Burrell (18th) | 18 |
| 23 | Southern California | 75.85 | Pac-12 | Caryl Smith Gilbert (3rd) | 23 |
| 24 | Tennessee | 75.25 | SEC | Beth Alford-Sullivan (2nd) | 28 |
| 25 | Clemson | 74.83 | ACC | Mark Elliott (3rd) | 27 |
| dropped out: No. 20 Mississippi, No. 22 Iowa, No. 24 Penn, No. 25 Florida State | |||||
| View All Teams Beyond the Top 25 | |||||
| Men’s Conference Index Top 10 | |||
| Rank | Conference | Points | Top 25 Teams |
| 1 | SEC | 1919.89 | 9 |
| 2 | Pac-12 | 701.98 | 4 |
| 3 | ACC | 689.31 | 4 |
| 4 | Big 12 | 641.47 | 3 |
| 5 | Big Ten | 621.05 | 2 |
| 6 | Conference USA | 296.60 | 1 |
| 7 | American | 194.51 | 1 |
| 8 | Ivy | 177.16 | |
| 9 | Missouri Valley | 163.32 | |
| 10 | Mid-American | 156.62 | |
| Men’s Regional Index Leaders | |||
| Region | Institution | Points | Last Week |
| Great Lakes | Indiana | 656.56 | 1 |
| Mid-Atlantic | Penn State | 881.90 | 1 |
| Midwest | Nebraska | 698.53 | 1 |
| Mountain | BYU | 1008.17 | 3 |
| Northeast | Cornell | 731.88 | 1 |
| South | Florida | 687.70 | 1 |
| South Central | Arkansas | 1067.21 | 1 |
| Southeast | South Carolina | 538.32 | 1 |
| West | Oregon | 759.21 | 1 |
| View All Regional Rankings | |||
