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Now that we’re three weeks into 2016, with [nearly] every team back in action, it feels appropriate to draw up our first set of NCAA power rankings in 2016. No surprises among our top five, but there were some shakeups further down the list, particularly in a the Big Ten, where a new team is looking to make a run at a conference title next month.
Tomorrow and Saturday is a big two-day dual meet stretch that will certainly shake up our next set of rankings, with the Bay Area teams taking on the Arizona schools, Virginia taking on UNC, and Georgia battling Tennessee. In the meantime though, here’s our 1-20:
20. MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS (previous rank: N/R)
Roster starting to come around after some big losses to graduation and redshirting. Look for some bigger-than-average drops across the board over the next few weeks from Brooke Zeiger and Danielle Nack.
19. WISCONSIN BADGERS (previous rank: N/R)
Chase Kinney and Danielle Valley give the Badgers an NCAA scoring threat at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Kinney has been lights-out in taking over the #1 sprinter role from Ivy Martin, and Valley just clocked the fastest dual meet times of her career.
18. PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (previous rank: #18)
Alexa Davis picking up right where she left off. Coming off an excellent fall season, the senior currently has the third fastest 200 free nationally in the new year.
17. NORTH CAROLINA TARHEELS (previous rank: #17)
Breezed past Navy to open up 2016. Now they have to gear up for a big one against archrival Virginia. While the Cavaliers/Wahoos are much better on paper, the Tarheels always get up for UVA, including last year’s upset victory.
16. MISSOURI TIGERS (previous rank: #16)
Unsure what to make of what happened last week. The Tigers looked sluggish in an upset by LSU on Thursday, but came back to actually swim pretty well Friday and Saturday at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Austin, particularly their stars. We’re chalking it up to not being sharp on a travel day and moving on.
15. FLORIDA GATORS (previous rank: #15)
Cleaned house against in-state rival Florida State the day after New Year’s, but we won’t see a short course competition until next Saturday against Tennessee. Plenty of question marks, but the Gators always have some nice surprises at SEC’s.
14. ARIZONA WILDCATS (previous rank: #12)
Nothing to write home about in their quad meet two weekends ago (their only competition so far this year). The big ones are this weekend against Stanford and Cal.
13. INDIANA HOOSIERS (previous rank: #13)
Lilly King continues to bring home the hardware, with her third Big Ten Swimmer of the Week award so far this season. Her 1-2 punch with fellow freshman Miranda Tucker (it’s a good one), however, wasn’t enough to get the Hoosiers past Michigan last weekend.
12. AUBURN TIGERS (previous rank: #11)
Rebounded from a tough loss to Texas with an easy win over Arkansas. Bailey Nero starting off the spring semester well, and Ashton Ellzey has developed from a #4 relay swimmer last spring to borderline top sprinter for the Tigers.
11. MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (previous rank: #14)
Statement win in their quad meet with Indiana, Duke, and Georgia Tech. Ali Deloof looking like a threat to score in three events at NCAA’s.
10. NC STATE WOLFPACK (previous rank: #10)
Cruised through a quad meet to close out winter training, but the real test is this weekend, when Virginia comes to town. It’ll help to have Michigan transfer Hannah Moore in her second meet as a Wolfpack swimmer if NC State hopes to hang around.
9. TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (previous rank: #7)
Haven’t learned much so far this semester. Tennessee’s only competition was a long course meet again Alabama immediately off of the holiday training period. One thing we do know, though: if the Volunteers can shore up their breaststroke spot now that Molly Hannis is gone, they’ll be fighting the likes of Stanford, Cal, and Virginia for a top three spot in the medleys.
8. USC TROJANS (previous rank: #9)
Starting to look more and more like they’re capable of finishing in the top 8 again at NCAA’s, bolstered by a solid group of youngsters; three of four legs on their winning 400 free relay against Wisconsin earlier this month were freshmen.
7. LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (previous rank: #8)
Freshman Rachael Bradford-Feldman is continuing to have a remarkable season. Tanja Kylliainen left some big shoes to fill, but Bradford-Feldman is well on her way. Already at 4:09.4 in November, she’s already a half-second under what it took to score at NCAA’s last March. Those (are big points can help push Louisville–a team who only lost one key scorer from last season–into the top 6 for the second season in a row. The Cardinals rolled over Florida State in their first meet of the semester.
6. TEXAS A&M AGGIES (previous rank: #7)
Stock trending upward, even with the loss the Georgia. Freshman Claire Rasmus has been an unexpected surprise, exemplified by her full-second drop in her 100 freestyle (LCM) last weekend at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Austin. Her 55.79 was the fastest time among collegiate swimmers in the meet.
5. TEXAS LONGHORNS (previous rank: #5)
No losses are “good”, but their 10-point loss to Georgia should leave the Longhorns feeling confident. Part of that close result was due to Texas’ diving prowess (which weighs heavy in a dual meet setting), but they also got some timely swims from Olivia Anderson and Rebecca Millard. Throw in their convincing win over Auburn, and Texas is solidly in our top 5.
4. VIRGINIA CAVALIERS/WAHOOS (previous rank: #4)
Busy January for Augie Busch and company; the Cavaliers/Wahoos took on Notre Dame and Virginia Tech in back-to-back weekends to open up the spring semester, and head down to North Carolina to take on the NC State Wolfpack and the archival UNC Tarheels. We’ll see how the heavy schedule affects them this weekend. Sprinter Ellen Thomas has had a nice start to 2016.
Update: UVA’s weekend meets have been postponed due to anticipated weather. They’re now slated for next weekend
3. CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS (previous rank: #3)
Haven’t competed in short course since November, but the Bears had some pretty impressive January swims at the Arena Pro Swim Series in Austin this past weekend, particularly from their fly group; Noemie Thomas, Kelly Naze, and Farida Osman all went under 59.2 in the 100, finishing 3-4-5 behind world record holders Sarah Sjostrom and Dana Vollmer.
2. STANFORD CARDINAL (previous rank: #2)
No change here; Stanford hasn’t competed since November. We’ll see them in action tomorrow and Saturday against the Pac-12 Arizona schools.
1. GEORGIA BULLDOGS (previous rank: #1)
Kicked off 2016 with big road wins over the Aggies and Longhorns. After dropping the opening relay, the ‘Dawgs went 1-2-3-4, 1-3-4, and 1-3 in the next three events en route to a 27-point dual meet victory over the Aggies. Their meet against Texas came down to the last relay, with Hali Flickinger pulling ahead of Texas anchor leg Remedy Rule for the win. The bright spots (distance freestyles, 200’s of stroke) and the weaknesses (breaststroke) didn’t change over the holidays. With SEC’s less than a month away (time flies, huh?), Georgia will have just two more days of competition before championship season.
Come back next week for our men’s power rankings!
Any word on kaitlyn jones returning for UVA for the remainder of the season after breaking her hand?
Glad Hannah Moore got a shoutout in the NC State section. She went a PB 16:18 in the mile at one of their post-winter training meet in Florida. Definitely one to watch in the NCAA conversation in the distance freestyles.