With Division I indoor track and field conference championships starting this weekend, it’s time to look at some sleepers in team title races.
I don’t think there are any true women’s sleeper teams based on the latest Track and Field Ratings Index (“the rankings”). The way things look ahead of conference championships, 35 points are likely the bare minimum for a women’s team to win a title, with multiple teams expected to push towards scoring 40 or more points. All of the true contenders ranked inside the top eight.
VALENTINE'S RECAP: Recapping an exciting weekend of track and field
Meanwhile, on the men’s side, we saw a national championship winning team score just 39 points last year, the fewest since 2018. Second place scored only 33 points, with only nine points separating first through fourth place.
The men’s team title race figures to be a more low-scoring affair, allowing for more true “sleeper” teams to emerge and compete for a championship.
That said, let’s take a look at three teams that are currently under the radar and outside of the top five of the latest rankings.
No. 7 Oklahoma
While Kansas State is the poster child for a potential team that can win an indoor title with only field events, we shouldn't sleep on Oklahoma on doing the same. Sooners Kennedy Stringfellow and Brandon Green Jr. lead the nation in the long jump and triple jump, respectively.
Oklahoma also has four high jumps all with top 20-marks, including three in the top eight. Kyren Washington finished fourth last year. Add in Floyd Whitaker and the nation’s eighth-best triple jump, and the Sooners could have the support needed to contend for a title.
Of course, it’ll all be dependent on racking up first-place finishes.
RECORD TRACKER: Every track and field record broken in 2026
No. 11 Texas Tech
Texas Tech recently fell to No. 11 in the latest TFRI, dropping every week since opening the season at No. 4. However, the Red Raiders are still a team with the top end talent to make a title push.
Triple jumper Jonathan Seremes is the defending indoor champion, hurdler Antoine Andrews has multiple top-six national finishes and Malachi Snow finished as a finalist in both the 60 meters and 60 hurdles last year. All three should score points for Texas Tech in Fayetteville.
High jumper BJ Jennings is the wildcard, with only a 12th place finish at last year’s indoor championships on his resume. He opened with a 2.21 meter jump in January, but hasn’t come close since. If Jennings returns to his January form, the Red Raiders could have enough points with four athletes to make things interesting.
MORE RECAPS: The most exciting performances of January | Performances you missed from December
No. 18 Auburn
Auburn will again be reliant on the short sprints for points like last year when the Tigers finished third with 32 points. Defending 60 meter hurdles champion Ja’Kobe Tharp is the favorite again in his event, and Kanyinsola Ajayi and Israel Okon could both score in the 60 meters.
However, Auburn likely needs the Ajayi-Okon duo to go 1-2 in the 60 for 18 points, plus a Tharp win to put the Tigers in striking distance of a title. Even then, Auburn likely needs another sprinter to step up in the 200 meters to score points.
Without a 4x100 meter relay, it’ll be hard for Auburn to score the points needed to win based on sprints alone, but a few first place finishes at championships could go a long way.
🧠 WHAT TO KNOW: Comparing indoor and outdoor seasons | Wind and scoring explained | Greatest venues | Best uniforms
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
