NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships 2016: Dates and Live Stream Schedule
An entire season of men’s and women’s indoor track and field culminates in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, and programs such as the Oregon Ducks, Florida Gators and Arkansas Razorbacks will look to continue their dominance under the bright lights.
The competitions take place on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Here is a look at some of the critical information and the team to watch leading up to the championships.
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Schedule and Broadcast Information
NCAA.com provided a breakdown of where fans can catch the high-stakes action on Friday and Saturday:
"ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 11 starting at 6:25 p.m. Eastern time and March 12 starting at 4:55 p.m. Eastern time. A re-air of the championship will take place on Sunday, March 13 starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN2 and also Wednesday, March 23 starting at 10 p.m. Eastern time on ESPNU.
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WatchESPN can be found here.
Rankings
Here are the overall team rankings on the men’s and women’s side before the Birmingham meet, courtesy of NCAA.com:
| 1 | Oregon | 134.58 | 2 |
| 2 | Arkansas | 126.03 | 1 |
| 3 | Florida | 105.69 | 4 |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 102.59 | 3 |
| 5 | LSU | 98.82 | 5 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 91.32 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas | 85.73 | 7 |
| 8 | Georgia | 66.95 | 9 |
| 9 | Southern California | 59.7 | 10 |
| 10 | Washington | 56.52 | 8 |
| 1 | Florida | 155.54 | 2 |
| 2 | Oregon | 149.51 | 1 |
| 3 | Georgia | 143.16 | 3 |
| 4 | Arkansas | 119.5 | 4 |
| 5 | Texas | 99.33 | 5 |
| 6 | Kansas State | 94.51 | 6 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | 91.98 | 8 |
| 8 | Michigan | 89.49 | 9 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 89.28 | 7 |
| 10 | LSU | 76.15 | 10 |
Events
NCAA.org provided a comprehensive list of every event fans can watch on Friday and Saturday:
| Time (CT) | Event | Division | Round |
| 5:30 p.m. | Mile | Men | Semifinal |
| 5:45 p.m. | Mile | Women | Semifinal |
| 6:10 p.m. | 60 Hurdles | Men | Semifinal |
| 6:20 p.m. | 60 Hurdles | Women | Semifinal |
| 6:30 p.m. | 60 Meters | Men | Semifinal |
| 6:38 p.m. | 60 Meters | Women | Semifinal |
| 6:55 p.m. | 400 Meters | Men | Semifinal |
| 7:10 p.m. | 400 Meters | Women | Semifinal |
| 7:25 p.m. | 800 Meters | Men | Semifinal |
| 7:35 p.m. | 800 Meters | Women | Semifinal |
| 7:45 p.m. | 200 Meters | Men | Semifinal |
| 7:55 p.m. | 200 Meters | Women | Semifinal |
| 8:05 p.m. | 5,000 Meters | Men | Final |
| 8:25 p.m. | 5,000 Meters | Women | Final |
| 8:45 p.m. | Distance Medley Relay | Men | Final |
| 9 p.m. | Distance Medley Relay | Women | Final |
| 5 p.m. | Weight Throw | Men | Trials & Final |
| 5:20 p.m. | Long Jump | Men | Trials & Final |
| 5:30 p.m. | Pole Vault | Men | Final |
| 7:10 p.m. | Long Jump | Women | Trials & Final |
| 7:20 p.m. | Weight Throw | Women | Trials & Final |
| 7:55 p.m. | High Jump | Men | Final |
| 12 p.m. | 60 Meters | Heptathlon | |
| 12:40 p.m. | Long Jump | Heptathlon | 2 runways |
| 1:50 p.m. | Shot Put | Heptathlon | 2 rings |
| 3 p.m. | High Jump | Heptathlon | 2 pits |
| 12:15 p.m. | 60 Hurdles | Pentathlon | |
| 1 p.m. | High Jump | Pentathlon | 2 pits |
| 3 p.m. | Shot Put | Pentathlon | 2 rings |
| 4 p.m. | Long Jump | Pentathlon | 2 runways |
| 5:10 p.m. | 800 Meters | Pentathlon |
| Time (CT) | Event | Divison | Round |
| 4 p.m. | Mile | Men | Final |
| 4:10 p.m. | Mile | Women | Final |
| 4:25 p.m. | 60 Hurdles | Men | Final |
| 4:35 p.m. | 60 Hurdles | Women | Final |
| 4:45 p.m. | 60 Meters | Men | Final |
| 4:55 p.m. | 60 Meters | Women | Final |
| 5:10 p.m. | 400 Meters | Men | Final |
| 5:20 p.m. | 400 Meters | Women | Final |
| 5:30 p.m. | 800 Meters | Men | Final |
| 5:40 p.m. | 800 Meters | Women | Final |
| 5:50 p.m. | 200 Meters | Men | Final |
| 6 p.m. | 200 Meters | Women | Final |
| 6:10 p.m. | 3,000 Meters | Men | Final |
| 6:25 p.m. | 3,000 Meters | Women | Final |
| 6:40 p.m. | 4x400 Relay | Men | Final |
| 6:55 p.m. | 4x400 Relay | Women | Final |
| 2 p.m. | High Jump | Women | Final |
| 2 p.m. | Shot Put | Men | Trials & Final |
| 3:30 p.m. | Triple Jump | Men | Trials & Final |
| 4 p.m. | Pole Vault | Women | Final |
| 5 p.m. | Triple Jump | Women | Trials & Final |
| 5 p.m. | Shot Put | Women | Trials & Final |
| 12 p.m. | 60 Hurdles | Heptathlon | |
| 12:50 p.m. | Pole Vault | Heptathlon | 2 pits |
| 3:45 p.m. | 1,000 Meters | Heptathlon |
Team to Watch: Oregon Ducks Men
The Oregon Ducks aren’t just fast on the football field—they are building a dynasty on the track.
The men’s track and field Top 10 may be dominated by “SEC speed” with five of the top six teams in the rankings hailing from the conference, but it is Oregon that has to be considered the favorite to take home the championship in Birmingham. After all, the Ducks are the two-time defending men’s national champions, which should give them a psychological edge in the most important moments.
Oregon head coach Robert Johnson is unleashing an interesting strategy that will likely set the tone for the Ducks at the championships.
Ken Goe of the Oregonian noted Johnson decided not to use defending NCAA indoor champion Edward Cheserek in the mile. Cheserek will instead run the 3,000 and 5,000 meters and could be available to anchor the distance medley relay.
Johnson commented on his decision, per Christopher Keizur of the Daily Emerald: “Most importantly, you look at what is best for Edward. Try to have him be successful and do what is best for our team.”
Fortunately for Oregon, it has plenty of depth in the mile even without Cheserek, as Goe described:
"UO coach [Johnson] is gambling the Ducks won't lose anything in the mile with the tandem of Blake Haney and Sam Prakel. It's probably a good bet. Haney broke Cheserek's school record in the mile this year by clocking a time of 3 minutes, 56.36 seconds in the Millrose Games.
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There is also history at stake. According to Kyle Terwillegar of USTFCCCA.org, Oregon would become only the fourth program in NCAA Division I history to win three consecutive national team titles if it accomplishes its goal in Birmingham.
It will have to do so as the top-ranked team after winning the past two as the No. 6 and No. 2 squads, respectively, in the rankings. No longer the underdogs, the Ducks are looking to take the next step in what is quickly becoming the best program in the sport.
Terwillegar also recognized Oregon’s overall approach is changing this year considering 12 of the team’s 13 entries in 2015 were middle-distance and distance events. As for 2016, Terwillegar said, "the Ducks have at least one entrant in each of the major disciplines (sprints/hurdles, endurance, jumps, throws, combined events), though they still have six of 10 entries hailing from the endurance contests.”
Outside of Cheserek and Haney, another competitor to watch is Devon Allen in the 60-meter hurdles. The name may sound familiar because he is a wide receiver for the Ducks football team, and he also won the NCAA and USATF outdoor 110-meter hurdles two years ago.
If Allen brings home a title for Oregon in his short-distance event and Cheserek continues his dominant ways in his disciplines, there may be no stopping the Ducks on the way to a third consecutive title.
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