OU XC/Track and Field in the SEC

How good is the SEC in Cross Country and Track and Field?

How well will OU do in the SEC in those two sports?

Well, let’s take a look at some of the rankings and athletes in the top 50 to see how good the SEC is and how well OU might have done in this year’s SEC Championships for XC and Indoor Track & Field

Men’s Cross Country:
Now I haven’t formally written an article about OU Cross Country here yet. I had put out a few updates when I had an OUInsider account.

But let’s take a look at how the SEC Finished in the Men’s Cross Country Final Rankings:
20. Tennessee
23. Arkansas
24. Ole Miss
27. Alabama

5 Men finished in the Top 126 of the NCAA National Championships for the SEC.

“Power 5 Conferences” (use this from football, there’s not really power conference in XC/T&F) in the Top 25 with the percent of the programs in those conferences ranked:
PAC12: 4/9 (44.44%)
ACC: 6/15 (40%)
SEC: 4/12 (33.33%)
Big 12: 2/9 (22.22%)
Big 10: 2/14 (14.29%)

Now with all that, how would OU had done with their Big 12 Championship results?
Last. Dead last. And I don’t think that changes with the competition around them either.

I wrote on OUInsider that OU is still building this program up from the dirt. Seeing the distance group not be nearly as successful recently has been a hard thing to watch as a distance person and OU fan myself.

But being in a fairly easy location to recruit for distance running, having a pretty solid recruiting ground here in Oklahoma, and that all important SEC Patch on the uniform… this should be a case of building is easier than it has ever been for Men’s Cross Country.

Women’s Cross Country:
How the SEC Women finished in the Women’s Cross Country Final Rankings:
3. Alabama
21. Arkansas

11 Women finished in the Top 126 of the NCAA National Championships for the SEC.

“Power 5 Conferences” (use this from football, there’s not really power conference in XC/T&F) in the Top 25 with the percent of the programs in those conferences ranked:
PAC12: 6/12 (50%)
ACC: 6/15 (40%)
Big 10: 5/14 (37.71%)
Big 12: 3/10 (30%)
SEC: 2/14 (14.29%)

Now with all that, how would OU had done with their Big 12 Championship results?
15th of 16 maybe over-performs but this probably doesn’t change either.

As you can see here, it’s going to take some recruiting hit, and some major development to happen in the Cross Country program to start being competitive.

But with what we’ve seen from OU’s Indoor Track and Field team the last 2 years, we just need to be patient and let Coach Hannah Fields get this ball rolling!

Men’s Indoor Track and Field:
I’ve written many articles here on the performance of the Indoor Track and Field team.

Here’s how it stands right now:
5 of the Top 10 are SEC schools (Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee)
6 of the Top 10 are SEC schools + #8 Texas
—
10 of the Top 25 are SEC schools (Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Ole Miss)
12 of the Top 25 are SEC schools + #12 OU and #8 Texas

Indoor Track and Field is LOADED for Men’s Indoor Track and Field, let’s go further…

Number of athletes for the SEC (including OU/TX)  in each event at the NCAA National Championships on Friday-Saturday-
60M: 5/16
200M: 8/16
400M: 8/16
800M: 6/16
1 Mile: 1/16
3000M: 3/16
5000M: 2/16
60H: 1/16
4×400: 7/12 (only 12 for relays)
DMR: 4/12
High Jump: 5/16
Pole Vault: 1/16
Long Jump: 9/16
Triple Jump: 6/16
Shot Put: 6/16
Weight Throw: 3/16
Heptathlon: 7/16

As you can see, the SEC is pretty loaded with talent for Indoor Track and Field (not much changes except it’s a larger net for Outdoor Track and Field).

But how would the points OU scored in the Big 12 Indoor Championships do in the SEC Championships?
3rd

I think they’d probably be in the Georgia to Auburn scale (4th to 9th) since the competition is far better in the SEC than the Big 12.

I also think that recruiting will jump in a positive direction with the SEC patch, with how well the Field Events are rolling for OU right now… they’d stay competitive with anyone, and with the progression week-to-week we’ve seen as well… they aren’t far off from being a top tier Indoor Track and Field team moving forward.

Bright future for Men’s Indoor Track and Field for Coach Tim Langford and OU Men’s Track and Field!

Women’s Indoor Track and Field:
As previously stated, you guys have been with me during my writing on the season performances.

Here’s how it stands right now:
6 of the Top 10 are SEC schools (Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia)
7 of the Top 10 are SEC schools + #1 Texas
—
9 of the Top 25 are SEC schools (Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Ole Miss, LSU, and Texas A&M)
10 of the Top 25 are SEC schools + OU and #1 Texas

Indoor Track and Field is LOADED for Women’s Indoor Track and Field as well!

Number of athletes for the SEC (including OU/TX)  in each event at the NCAA National Championships on Friday-Saturday-
60M: 9/16
200M: 10/16
400M: 12/16
800M: 3/16
1 Mile: 3/16
3000M: 3/16
5000M: 2/16
60H: 5/16
4×400: 7/12 (only 12 for relays)
DMR: 2/12
High Jump: 2/16
Pole Vault: 2/16
Long Jump: 6/16
Triple Jump: 6/16
Shot Put: 4/16
Weight Throw: 6/16
Pentathlon: 5/16

Again, loaded!

But how would the points OU scored in the Big 12 Indoor Championships do in the SEC Championships?
3rd

I think they’d probably be in the Alabama to Vanderbilt scale (3rd to 9th) since the competition is far better in the SEC than the Big 12.

Same thing for the Women as the Men.
Better recruiting will help.
Already a great staff at development.
SEC Patch will help a ton.

Bright future here as well!

Outdoor Track and Field:
Not much will change from Indoor to Outdoor, but I want to see how they perform this season before writing on how they’ll transition.

Picture Credit: @OU_Track Twitter Header