140516SECtrack

Florida's Dedric Dukes wins his heat in the 200 during the Southeastern Conference track meet in May.

(Mark Cornelison/The Associated Press)

EUGENE -- Oregon's men are the favorite to win the team title when the NCAA outdoor track and field championships begins its four-day run Wednesday at UO's Hayward Field.

Form charts compiled by Track & Field News and The Oregonian's Ken Goe each predict Oregon's path to its first NCAA outdoor title since 1984 will be strewn with obstacles, however, and the biggest challenges will come from Florida and Texas A&M. The T&FN form chart currently has Oregon winning 78-72 over Florida, with the Aggies third with 58 points. After that, the field drops off. Projections only mean so much when the events leap from the form chart to the actual competition, but this should be a tight three-team race to the end.

Here are previews of the main challengers to the Ducks' title aspirations at this week's NCAA outdoor championships.

FLORIDA: Florida's success in the sprints should put it in the hunt for the national title (the Gators tied Texas A&M in 2013 after winning outright in 2012), but its field events could put UF's championships hopes over the top.

Where the Gators have the upper hand on Oregon is in the field events. Stipe Zunic is picked to finish second in the shot put and Marquis Dendy is picked third in the long jump and first in the triple. None of those three events has a Duck entered, and those are potentially 26 big points Oregon won't have an answer for.

Dedric Dukes is projected to win the 200 but as many as four Gators could score in the 400, per Track & Field News' form chart. Gino Hall has the best chance in the 400 with a second-place finish expected -- after that Hugh Graham, Michael Cherry and Najee Glass could each contribute a point or two if all goes well for Florida. The 400 is an especially crucial event to watch, because it's one of few events where a Duck (Michael Berry), Aggie (Bralon Taplin) and Gator all are likely to compete head-to-head in the final.

Another of those head-to-head events is the 110-meter hurdles, where Eddie Lovett of the Gators will attempt to hold off Oregon's Devon Allen and A&M's Wayne Davis. All are projected to finish in the top four places.

With that sprinting pedigree, it should come as no surprise Florida could is expected to earn a combined 16-20 points from the relays. But to get those points, they'll have to go through the Aggies.

TEXAS A&M: The Aggies' strengths are even more concentrated in the sprints than Florida, which leaves them few ways to compensate for a potential misstep.

The Aggies have entries in five field events but none are expected to yield points toward the school's title race. That leaves the sprints as the only leg for A&M to stand on, but if that seems like a big bet on just one area of the track, the Aggies have the speed to make up the ground.

Watch for the 200 and 400 meters in particular. In the 200, Prezel Hardy and Shavez Hart could each finish in the top five, and in the 400 Deon Lendore is picked to win by Track & Field News and Bralon Taplin is projected as fourth. Each event is critical because Oregon and Florida are expected to have competitors in the final, and displacing a Duck or Gator could be vital to an Aggie upset. Same goes for each relay, where Florida and Texas A&M could finish in some order of first and second (and Oregon only has a 4x400-meter relay team).

Another key event is the 110-meter hurdles, where the three favorites each are expected to place a runner in the final. In this event Texas A&M is pinning its hopes on Davis, whose time of 13.20 seconds is the second-fastest seed in the nation.

-- Andrew Greif | @andrewgreif