The NCAA Indoor Championships are already a little over one month out, and dating back to early December, we've already seen a handful of collegiate records go down, and the next few weeks bring us ever closer to "win or go home" territory.

This season's first edition of the FloTrack College Indoor Track & Field Rankings is led by a pair of teams that have the depth in pieces to put together a championship run, but there are a few blue bloods hoping to chase them down before it's all said and done. 

Here are four questions we needed to answer as the season gets rolling.

• Every Track And Field Record Broken So Far In 2026
• Watch The BU Valentine Invitational LIVE on FloTrack
• 16-Year-Old Sam Ruthe Rips A Workout
• College Indoor T&F Rankings: Illinois and Kansas State Rise To The Top

Can Travis Geopfert Lead Kansas State To A National Title In His Second Year?

In July 2024, Kansas State University hired Travis Geopfert as the new Director of Track & Field, replacing legendary Wildcat head coach Cliff Rovelto. The four-time National Assistant Coach of the Year during his time at Arkansas, Geopfert has rapidly taken the 'Cats from the middle of the Big 12 to the top of the national rankings in less than two years at the helm.

Last week, the 'Cats earned their first No. 1 ranking in program history, and they continued the momentum again this week, earning the top spot on the FloTrack College Indoor Rankings on Tuesday. 

As every track fan knows, it truly takes a team to win hardware at this level, and the fact that Kansas State has arguably the best jumps unit in the nation is why they're getting the respect they deserve. 

In the high jump, Alan Hanna (7-4.5) and Devin Loudermilk (7-3.25) sit No. 1 and No. 4 in the nation, both very likely having their spot at NCCAs more than secured at this point in the season. 

While they excel in the vertical jumps, their depth in the horizontal jumps is what makes this squad so lethal. In the long jump, Tafadzwa Chikomba, Uroy Ryan, and Croix DaCunha are ranked No. 2, No. 8, and No. 12 in the NCAA, with SBs of 26-6.5, 25-9.75, and 25-8.25, respectively. 

They somehow outdid themselves in the triple jump, as Selva Prabhu (54-6.75), Trevon Hamer (54-0.5), and Aaron Antoine (53-9.75) comfortably find themselves at the third, fourth, and sixth spots in the country. 

Their duo of Big 12 champions in Gary Moore and Kade McCall adds some depth in the weight throw as well, with their marks of 75-11 and 74-3 putting them both inside the top-10 at No. 5 and No. 9. 

No Big 12 men's team outside of Texas has won the national title in 56 years, with Kansas last doing so in 1970, but if Geopfert and company can put the pieces together next month, that streak would come to an end. 

Do The BYU Women Have the Distance Firepower To Win It All?

It's undoubtedly clear at this point that the BYU women are one of the most competitive and talented distance programs in the NCAA, and the fact that Jane Hedengren is leading the way only adds to their case. 

In the latest batch of Event Squad rankings, BYU is top dog in both the 3000m and 5000m, and sitting third in the 800m. One stat that helps their case as the top distance program is the fact that right now they're the only team to appear in three of the four lists, and the only one to lead two. 

Their frontrunning duo of Hedengren and Riley Chamberlain are both toward the top of the 3k and 5k, with Hedengren (8:34.98) ranked second after running the second-fastest time in NCAA history earlier this month, and Chamberlain (8:43.16) in fifth. 

In the longest event on the indoor oval, the 5k, Hedengren and Chamberlain sit No. 1 and No. 2 in the country after their record-breaking runs at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in December, where the freshman shattered the collegiate record. 

Tried-and-true All-American Jenna Hutchins adds another layer of depth in both events as well, with her 8:49.39 and 15:36.60 performances putting her at No. 14 and No. 22. 

Jacey Farmer also ranks No. 17 in the 5k.

In the always-quick 800m, Tessa Buswell (2:03.19) is the 15th-ranked collegian, while Sami Oblad (2:03.97) isn't far behind in 24th.

Throw in their nation-leading DMR quartet and you've got yourself more than enough firepower to take down even the best squads from the SEC and the Big Ten.  

Is The SEC The Most Competitive Conference On The Men's Side?

Whether you're a fan of the SEC or not, it's hard to discredit a conference that has four teams inside the top six spots, and seven in the top-20. 

Headlined by Tennessee and Texas A&M in the second and third spots in the rankings, the Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma Sooners are right there with them in fifth and sixth. 

It's also worth noting that it might just mean a little more for these programs when you look at the most recent set of event squad rankings, which, spoiler, shows a lot of SEC dominance.

In 15 events, the SEC accounted for five of the top programs, including the 60m (Tennessee), 60mH (Arkansas), 400m (Texas A&M), high jump (Oklahoma), and pole vault (Tennessee), along with 14 other teams ranked inside the top five of their respective event.

While they clearly have the talent and notoriety that warrant high expectations, they've only won a single national indoor title since 2020, with Arkansas winning in 2023. In that span, Oregon (Pac-12), Texas (Big 12), Texas Tech (Big 12), and USC (Big Ten) have won it all. 

Right now, a red-hot team from Manhattan, Kansas, and a list of worthy adversaries stand in the way of the SEC getting back on top, but there's no reason that 2026 couldn't be their year. 

Should We Have Seen Illinois' Rise Coming?

The short answer is yes, obviously. 

After finishing eighth at NCAAs last March, which marked their best championship finish since 1996, all the signs were pointing towards the Illini women being national contenders this winter. 

As it stands, this team is doing it all on the field, with 14 women ranked inside the top-11 in the NCAA in their respective events. 

Similar to the top-ranked Kansas State men, the Illinois women have a dominant contingent in the jumps, with their long jump duo being in a class of their own. Sophia Beckmon (22-5.75) and Elizabeth Ndudi (21-9), owning the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, joined by their triple jump counterparts of Romi Tamir (44-3.5), Katharina Graman (43-11.75), and Mercy Honesty (43-10.75), who all come in at No. 3, No. 7, and No. 8 this campaign.

It only makes sense that they have two of the best high jumpers to round out the jumps, led by the second and sixth best jumpers, Rose Yeboah (6-4.25) and JaiCienna Gero-Holt (6-2)

Across the weight throw and pole vault, Jordan Koskondy (75-8.75), Phethisang Makhethe (74-10.5), and Oluwatomilayo Akintunde (71-7.5) sit No. 3, No. 5, and No. 10 in one of the two indoor throwing events, with Mia Morello (14-9) ranked fourth in the pole vault. 

This point scoring machine is rounded out by their multi-athletes, with Lucie Kienast (4337), Gero-Holt (4250), and Meagan Humphries (4197) finding themselves at No. 2, No. 7, and No. 11 heading into conference championships in a few weeks. 

After finishing eighth and fifth in last year's indoor and outdoor championships, there should be no surprise that they were a force to be reckoned with in 2026, and if you didn't have them on your radar, you weren't looking closely enough.