NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships 2015: Dates, TV Schedule and Location
The 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin on Wednesday, hosted for the third year in a row at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Home fans at the University of Oregon will have plenty to cheer about in both the men's and women's championship showcases. The Ducks' men's team is ranked second in the country and is the defending national champion, while the women are No. 1.
Below is TV and viewing information for the four-day competition filled with many of the NCAA's elite athletes:
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| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 1 | 2 p.m. | ESPN3/WatchESPN |
| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 1 | 7 p.m. | ESPNU |
| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 2 | 1 p.m. | ESPN3/WatchESPN |
| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 2 | 7 p.m. | ESPNU |
| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 2 | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 3 | 7 p.m. | ESPN3/WatchESPN |
| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 3 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 4 | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN3/WatchESPN |
| Men's and Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Finals - Day 4 | 5 p.m. | ESPN 2 |
It's only fitting that a city dubbed TrackTown, USA, would settle in as the venue for what should be a thrilling spectacle. Record Timing will log live results for all the events. The real-time posts will help those who can't view the championships keep track of the numerous contests.
Friday and Saturday will be the most compelling. As you can observe from the full schedule, the NCAA is cramming in the vast majority of the men's finals on Friday, while the women will finish up in a whirlwind Saturday under a new format. Athletes who compete in multiple events thus won't have a tremendous amount of time to rest in between.
Oregon head coach Robert Johnson, whose team has 23 men and 22 women competing for an NCAA-high 45 athletes total, isn't exactly giving the fresh way of scheduling a ringing endorsement, per the Daily Emerald's Christopher Keizur:
"It's one of those things that has its pros and its cons. Before I try to formulate an opinion, idea or philosophy — just try to wait and see how it works out. [...] As coaches those things are thrust upon us, so we got to find a way to figure it out and be successful in that model...We have been tinkering and trying some things in order to do that.
"
There will be no shortage of intrigue to see how the athletes respond to the potential adversity—not to mention how compelling the subplots are regarding the top teams.
Just above the Oregon men's team in the country's hierarchy are the Florida Gators, who settled for second place in last year's event. One can bet the Gators are out for revenge this time around, bidding to play spoiler in the hopes of securing a third national championship in four years.
Texas A&M won the women's crown last year and has come out on top in four of the past six championships. The Aggies figure to be a factor once again, and their men's team is also third in the national rankings and has had the exact same recent ratio of winning this entire competition.
Although much of the focus will deservedly be on Oregon protecting its home turf, these championships have a definitive SEC flavor. Six of the top 10 men's and women's teams are from the conference. SECSports.com's Sean Cartell added further context to illustrate the point:
"#SEC leads the nation in entries to the #NCAA Track and Field Championships, per @USTFCCCA. 107 men's entries, 116 women's entries.
— Sean Cartell (@SEC_Sean) June 1, 2015"
So the Ducks have plenty of top-tier adversaries to run, throw and leap past if they're meant to contend for the ultimate prize.
Track and Field News' John Auka compiled form sheets heading into the NCAA championships to get a gauge on who might come out on top. The men's edition now has Oregon edging Florida by a score of 65-63, and the women's sheet shows Southern California just one point ahead of Oregon, 47-46.
If the real competitions play out in such close fashion, these 2015 championships have the makings of being among the most memorable ever—especially if the Ducks are down to the wire with a chance to pull off a national title double at home.
Note: Championship information courtesy of NCAA.com unless otherwise indicated.
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