2020 NCAA DI Men’s Indoor Track & Field Rating Index – Week 6
NEW ORLEANS – You better buckle your seatbelt.
The postseason already got off to a hot start and if the most recent NCAA Division I Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Rating Index that was released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is any indication, it’s only going to get better from here on out.
Nine of the top-10 teams shifted, including four of the top-5 teams. That means there is a new No. 1 team for the second time in the past three weeks.
NCAA Division I — Men's Indoor Track & Field
This Week's National Top Five
1
LSU
LSU
2
Oregon
Oregon
3
Northern Arizona
Northern Arizona
4
Texas
Texas
5
Georgia
Georgia
All TFRI Reports
LSU jumped from No. 2 – the place it had been all season long – to No. 1 – a place it hasn’t been since Week 1 of the 2011 season. This is actually only the second time in program history that the Tigers have been ranked No. 1, because they fell from No. 1 last time after one week.
If the NCAA Championships began today, LSU would have 10 entries spread across six events. Those entries include a national leader in the 200 from Terrance Laird at 20.43 and two men ranked in the top-3 of the long jump in JuVaughn Harrison and Rayvon Grey. Just this past weekend, Laird won the SEC title in the 200 and was joined on the podium by teammate Dylan Peebles, who is now ranked eighth nationally.
In a role reversal, you have Ducks hunting Tigers and not the other way around.
Oregon flew three spots from No. 5 to No. 2, which matches its best ranking in the past four years. The Ducks impressed at both the BU Last Chance Qualifier and the MPSF Indoor Championships – but more so the former.
It was in Boston where Charlie Hunter and Cooper Teare worked together to not only move up the Descending Order List in the mile, but the all-time collegiate chart. Hunter and Teare went 3:55.41 and 3:55.50, respectively, for the No. 2 and No. 3 spots on the Descending Order List and became the No. 12 and No. 14 best performers in collegiate history in the process.
Former No. 1 Northern Arizona slid two spots to No. 3, right in front of No. 4 Texas.
Georgia moved up one spot from No. 6 to a season best No. 5. The Bulldogs are still stacked in the heptathlon with the top-3 athletes on the Descending Order List – Johannes Erm (6114), Karel Tilga (6019) and Kyle Garland (5994) – and have top-5 national performers in the 200 (Matthew Boling, No. 4) and the high jump (Darius Carbin, t-No. 5). Elija Godwin also gave Georgia another national qualifier in the 400 with his 45.96 this past weekend.
Texas A&M had the biggest jump in the top-10 as it climbed six spots from Week 5. The seventh-ranked Aggies now have two of the top-5 men in the 400 with top-ranked Bryce Deadmon and fourth-ranked Jamal Walton, which feeds into the top-ranked 4×400 relay. Not only that, but Texas A&M also features two of the top-10 men in the 800 with third-ranked Carlton Orange and seventh-ranked Devin Dixon.
Florida State and Iowa State both improved their ranking one spot since Week 5. The Seminoles are now ranked eight, while the Cyclones are now ranked ninth.
Notre Dame was the lone new addition to the top-25 as it comes in ranked No. 19 this week. The Irish were buoyed by the performance of Yared Nuguse, who broke the meet record in the mile at the ACC Indoor Championships and rocketed up the indoor chart.
Be sure to check back next week as we’ll have the Pre-Championships Edition of the National Rating Index ahead of the 2020 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, set for next Friday and Saturday in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
