NEW ORLEANS -- For the first time since 2009, Oregon has landed atop the Division I National Team Computer Rankings in its week three edition released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
In the final edition of the polls before preseason marks are removed from the calculations in week four, Oregon overtook the reigning national co-champion Florida Gators as part of a top-10 shakeup.
Behind the year’s second-fastest 5000 meters performance by Trevor Dunbar in 13:32.38, the Ducks saw a nearly 29-point improvement to its team rankings score for a total of 335.91.
Team rankings scores do not mirror the points systems used at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but rather measure team depth in a national championship setting based on their student-athletes’ positioning on the national descending order lists.Oregon was last ranked this highly in week six of the 2009 season after occupying the top spot for three of the five preceding weeks. The Ducks would ultimately finish as runners-up at NCAAs.
By contrast, Florida fell to No. 2 after dropping nearly 13 points from its team rankings score. The Gators are still well within striking distance of Oregon with its 319.42 team rankings score.
Also switching spots from last week were defending national co-champion No. 3 Texas A&M (296.33) and No. 4 Arkansas (275.74).
Newly crowned ACC Champion Florida State (195.62) held firm at No. 5.
In fact, FSU was the only stationary team in the top 10 as No. 6 Georgia (181.05) moved up three spots and No. 8 LSU (157.24) improved two, while No. 7 Wisconsin (181.00) dropped one and No. 9 Alabama (157.13) and No. 10 Texas Tech (153.36) both fell two.
