Conference Weekend Will Spotlight Big Three

For the collegiate athletes the conference weekend is the beginning of their real indoor season – conference followed by national titles. So the best of the collegiates will be on display. That means the Big 12 Conference, the Pac 10 Conference, and the SEC. The sports’ “Big Three” collegiate conferences when it comes to track and field and the sports “Big Three” teams – Texas A&M, Oregon, and Florida!

These are the conferences and teams that have emerged over the past decade as the cream of the crop in collegiate track and field – the teams that are always right there in the thick of the national championship battle. Look no further than the current rankings

Based on the USTFCCCA Computer Rankings the top 10 teams heading into this weekend are:

Men

1	Florida
2	LSU
3	Indiana
4	Texas A&M
5	Arkansas
6	Stanford
7	BYU
8	Texas
9	Oklahoma
10	Penn State

 

Women

1	Oregon
2	LSU
3	Texas
4	Arkansas
5	Texas A&M
6	Tennessee
7	Florida State
8	Oklahoma
9	UCF
10	BYU

 

Last year’s top finishing teams at the NCAA Indoor Championships were:

Men

57 pts	Florida
44 pts	Oregon
44 pts	Texas A&M
42 pts	LSU
38 pts	Arkansas
25 pts	Indiana
21 pts	Arizona State
18 pts	Northern Arizona
18 pts	South Carolina
18 pts	New Mexico
18 pts	Minnesota

 

Women

61 pts	Oregon
36 pts	Tennessee
35 pts	LSU
33 pts	Florida
31 pts	Texas A&M
28 pts	Auburn
20 pts	Clemson
20 pts	Florida State
20 pts	UTEP
18 pts	Iowa St, Virginia Tech, West Virginia

Look for some combination of these teams to be at the top of the heap when the championships are handed out again this year.

Defending women’s champ Oregon’s top performers heading into conference weekend:

Event	Mark	Athlete
60	7.25	Amber Purvis
200	23.27	Amber Purvis
800	2:06.64	Laura Roessler
Mile	4:34.75	Jordan Hassay
Mile	4:36.32	Anne Kesselring
3000	9:05.42	Jordan Hassay
3000	9:08.60	Alex Kosinski
5000	15:44.60	Alex Kosinski
HJ	6’ 0”	Brianne Theissen
PV	14’ 3.5”	Melissa Gergel
LJ	20’ 6.5”	Jamesha Youngblood
Pent	4507	Brianne Theissen

 

Defending men’s champ Florida’s top performers heading into conference weekend:

Event	Mark	Athlete
60	6.57	Jeff Demps
60	6.64	Terrell Wilks
200	20.88	Tony McQuay
200	21.01	Leonardo Seymore
400	45.95	Tony McQuay
Mile	3:56.84	Dumisane Hlaselo
LJ	26’ 1”	Will Claye
TJ	55’ 10.25”	Will Claye
TJ	55’ .25”	Christian Taylor
TJ	53’ 1.5”	Omar Craddock
SP	63’ 4”	Kemal Mesic
Hep	5747	Gray Horn

That’s how things look today. I’m sure there will be a lot of change after the dust has settled Sunday. Once the conferences are complete I’ll take a hard look at trying to handicap the NCAA meet. It should be another hot one – as should this weekend’s conference meets.