Calm Week in Division I National Team Rankings Ahead of Conference Championships Storm

NEW ORLEANS – Between the slim schedule on the opening weekend of conference championships season and the majority of teams biding their time before this coming weekend’s league meets, little changed atop the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday.

MEN’S TOP FIVE
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Arkansas 176.04 pts	Florida 128.21 pts	Texas A&M 127.23 pts	Wisconsin 116.78 pts	Oregon 99.54 pts
View Complete Men’s Rankings

The defending champions for both genders maintained their positions atop their respective rankings in the Arkansas men and the four-time defending champion Oregon women, while a majority of the top ten teams also remained in a holding pattern.

A top-three showdown is set for this weekend at the SEC Championships as behind Arkansas (176.04 team rankings points) in the men’s rankings were No. 2 Florida (128.21) and No. 3 Texas A&M (127.23).

That same order is exactly how these three teams entered the 2013 SEC Championships, and it was exactly the order in which they finished at both SECs and NCAA indoors (champion, runner-up and fourth, respectively).

The SEC meet is shaping up to be perhaps the top league meet in the nation this weekend with seven top-25 men’s teams, followed by four in the Big Ten and three in both the MPSF and the ACC.

One of those Big Ten teams, No. 4 Wisconsin (116.78), moved up one spot behind Michael Lihrman’s NCAA Division I record weight throw of 79-7½ (24.27m), while No. 5 Oregon (99.54) of the MPSF slid one spot for the second consecutive week.

No. 6 Florida State (79.52) and No. 7 Penn State (75.16) swapped spots for the second consecutive week, while No. 8 Southern California (66.66) and No. 9 Arizona (65.62) remained stationary.

Behind a fifth-ranked performance at 400 meters by Christopher Giesting in 45.89 and the sixth-ranked distance medley relay team in the nation in 9:29.43, Notre Dame jumped up 10 spots from last week to round out the top 10.

The biggest beneficiary of the opening weekend of conference championships season was No. 18 Kennesaw State, which soared 20 spots upward from last week behind National Athlete of the Week Andre Dorsey for its first top-25 appearance since the beginning of the USTFCCCA rankings in 2008.

Dorsey is the only man in Division I ranked in the top 10 in three different jumps events (No. 3 triple jump, No. 6 high jump, No. 7 long jump).

WOMEN’S TOP FIVE
1)	2)	3)	4)	5)
Oregon 201.28 pts	Florida 145.89 pts	Texas A&M 142.86 pts	Arkansas 126.51 pts	Texas 122.02 pts
View Complete Women’s Rankings

The women’s top 10 teams were largely idle this past weekend, which translated into each of the first nine holding steady from last week.

Behind No. 1 Oregon (201.28 team rankings score) – which is looking to match LSU from 1993-1997 as the only five-time-defending champions in women’s Division I indoor history –remained No. 2 Florida (145.89), No. 3 Texas A&M (142.86), No. 4 Arkansas (126.51) and preseason favorite No. 5 Texas (122.02).

As with the men, this upcoming weekend’s SEC women’s indoor championships is sure to produce fireworks. In addition to No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Texas A&M and defending indoor SEC Champion No. 4 Arkansas are top-10 teams in No. 6 Kentucky (100.83) and No. 7 Georgia (98.31) among eight total top-25 teams from the conference.

The Big 12 and MPSF are a distant second, both with three nationally ranked teams set to contend at their championships.

Providence (90.41) remained No. 8 after its third-place finish at the Big East Championships, while No. 9 Stanford (76.35) held firm ahead of this weekend’s MPSF Championships against No. 1 Oregon.

Dartmouth (58.59) rounded out the top 10 after a 13-point jump with the inclusion of Abbey D’Agostino’s top-ranked performance at 3000 meters.

The two biggest improvements in the women’s rankings came from the Big East Championships, as runner-up Georgetown improved 19 positions to No. 15 and champion Villanova jumped 33 to No. 18 behind National Athlete of the Week Emily Lipari.

The national team rankings are complied by mathematical formulae 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. A full description of the rankings can be found here.

The USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings should not be referred to as a “poll” as no voting occurs during the process.