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

NEW ORLEANS – The most recent NCAA Division I Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Team Rankings, released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) saw quite the shakeup between the preseason and now.

Eight teams took up new spots in the top-10, including a trio of program from the SEC: Florida, Mississippi State and LSU. The Gators jumped from No. 4 to No. 1, the Bulldogs went from No. 14 to No. 9 and the Tigers soared from outside the top-25 to No. 10.

NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings – Men 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Florida Texas A&M Houston Oregon Southern California Click Here for the National Summary (PDF)

The two-time defending champion Gators return to the top spot of the outdoor rankings for the first time since Week 3 of 2017. Performances by Florida’s field athletes and relay teams at the Florida Relays this past weekend lifted them three spots in the index. Clayton Brown (high jump), Anders Eriksson (hammer throw) and Thomas Mardal (hammer throw) are now each ranked in the top-7 of their respective events in the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings, while the Gators’ 4×400 tops the chart at 3:01.00 and their 4×100 relay sits fourth.

Texas A&M and Houston remained second and third, while former No. 1 Oregon slid three spots to No. 4. The Aggies, Cougars and Ducks each had a top-5 mark turned in by their athletes this past weekend. Texas A&M has the second-ranked 4×400 team at 3:02.74, Houston is No. 3 in the 4×100 at 38.92 and Oregon has two men ranked in the top-5 of the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings in the 1500 (Sam Prakel and Mick Stanovsek).

Southern California and Texas Tech each moved up two spots from No. 7 to No. 5 and No. 8 to No. 6, respectively. The Trojans threw down the second fastest 4×100 relay of the season this past weekend (38.88).

Mississippi State watched a pair of throwers help its program to its best ranking since 2015. Anderson Peters and Nicolas Quijera are now ranked the second and fifth-best javelin throwers according to the USTFCCCA Individual Rankings. Peters launched the javelin 81.95m (268-10) two weeks ago and was named National Athlete of the Week for his effort.

LSU has been a fixture in the top-10 and returns to that spot this week. The Tigers have been ranked in the top-10 43 consecutive weeks until they fell out in the preseason. LSU jumped back into the mix after Damion Thomas starred in the 110 hurdles (13.43w) and its 4×100 relay hit the best mark in the nation (38.84).

There were two new additions to the top-25 this week as Ohio State jumped 13 spots from No. 34 to No. 21 and Florida State climbed 12 spots from No. 37 to No. 25.

The 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held June 6-9 at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.