2018 NCAA DI Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Rankings – Week 1

NEW ORLEANS – A big weekend shook up the top-5 of the NCAA Division I Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings.

Florida and Georgia are still No. 1 and No. 2, but the former extended its lead to 95.91 points compared to 69.29 last week.

Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Alabama all vaulted multiple spots into the top-5. The Aggies went from No. 17 to No. 3, the Red Raiders from No. 10 to No. 4 and the Crimson Tide from No. 9 to No. 5.

NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Florida Georgia Texas A&M Texas Tech Alabama Click Here for the National Summary (PDF)

The Gators took a bite out of the collegiate indoor record book this past weekend at the Clemson Invitational. Grant Holloway scorched the track in the 60 hurdles to the tune of 7.49, which tied the third fastest mark in collegiate history. Later in the same meet, Holloway and three of his teammates joined forces to notch the eighth fastest time in collegiate history in the 4×400 (Florida got the baton around in 3:03.49).

Denzel Comenentia was a major reason why the Bulldogs increased their total from 94.66 to 101.73. Comenentia climbed to the top of the Descending Order List in the shot put with his heave of 20.09m (65-11) this past weekend at the Clemson Invitational. He also moved into the top-3 of the weight throw with his mark of 22.42m (73-6¾).

Texas A&M came into the preseason ranked No. 17, but its efforts at its home meet this past weekend – the Texas A&M Quadrangular – helped its cause. Texas A&M saw Robert Grant and Mylik Kerley surge up the Descending Order List in the 400, while Jacob Wooten and Audie Wyatt did the same in the pole vault.

Texas Tech earns its best ranking since Week 5 of the 2013 season, when it was also ranked fourth. The Red Raiders have been taking full advantage of their new facility and peppered the Descending Order Lists. Trey Culver reached the top of the high jump list thanks to his massive effort two weeks ago (2.33m/7-7½). Charles Brown is ranked in the top-3 of both the long jump (first) and triple jump (third), while Divine Oduduru clocked a time of 20.56 in the 200 this past weekend and is ranked No. 2 in the nation.

This is the first time in three years that Alabama worked its way back inside the top-5. The Crimson Tide got a sterling effort from Ruebin Walters in the 60 hurdles (7.63) and saw its 4×400 team turn in a time of 11.26, which puts the foursome sixth in the nation.

The top-10 of this week’s index has a heavy SEC slant. In addition to Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M and Alabama, there are two more programs in the mix as well: No. 6 Kentucky and No. 7 Arkansas. This is the best ranking in program history for the Wildcats and they can thank their second-ranked distance medley relay for that (9:49.16).

Other programs to jump multiple spots in the rankings include Indiana (No. 14 to No. 9), Houston (No. 19 to No. 11), Penn State (No. 22 to No. 18), Iowa (No. 32 to No. 22), Florida State (No. 36 to No. 23) and Ohio State (No. 27 to No. 24).

Note: Event-by-event national ranking reports now feature a new metric. Each current-season performance is measured against the last five years of NCAA Championship qualifying and assigned a percentage chance of selection after declarations. Chances are higher than 50% if the performance beats the five-year average of the last-entered seed in that event. This is an unofficial product from the USTFCCCA to aid in contextualizing performances and their relevance in the national championship landscape.