Best D1 Track and Field Colleges – Men’s & Women’s
March 20, 2025
In college sports, there’s less competitive parity than there is in pro sports. That’s my impression at least. I could be wrong. But for a while there in the 2010s it felt like no school other than Alabama was allowed to win a college football championship. The UConn women’s basketball squad literally went years without dropping a game. In college tennis, one school, Virginia, has taken home exactly half of the last 12 national titles. In college wrestling, the championship disparity is even more pronounced: since 2011, Penn State has won the national wrestling championship 11 times. And this have/have-not dynamic holds in track and field too. A handful of elite schools dominate the sport. So what are the best track and field colleges? Check out the list below.
Best Men’s and Women’s D1 Track and Field Colleges
20) University of Miami
Florida colleges are well-represented on the list of the best track and field colleges, and the Hurricanes’ track and field program has been on the rise in recent years. In 2023, the men’s team finished the year within the top 25 nationally, and in 2024, they were the 10th best track and field squad in the country.
19) Princeton University
The sole representative of the Ivy League on this list, the Princeton Tigers are nonetheless one of the best track and field colleges in the sport. The women’s outdoor track and field team has won the Ivy League championship 9 times; the men’s squad has won it 23 times.
18) Auburn University
Auburn has been one of the best track and field colleges in the nation in recent years. In 2024, the men’s outdoor track and field team finished the year as the second-highest ranked school in the sport. That represented a huge improvement from the year prior, when they finished the year at the number 68 spot. The women’s team has also come up in recent years: in 2022, they finished within the top 20 nationally, and they’ve had several athletes lead the conference in their specific event. Maura Huwalt, for example, led the SEC in discus, and Keira McCarrell led both the SEC and the nation in javelin.
17) Mississippi State University
The men’s Bulldogs were the 27th best outdoor track and field squad in 2024, according to the year-end rankings. Bulldogs track and field alumni were also well-represented at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Five Mississippi State track and field products competed in three different events. In fact, Mississippi State was the only school in the country to have more than one athlete competing in the men’s 800-meter dash.
16) Baylor University
This year’s NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships just concluded, and the results solidify Baylor as one of the best track and field colleges in the country. The women’s team finished 15th overall, the men’s, 23rd; the last time both the men’s and women’s teams finished within the top 25 was back in 2021. This year, a total of 9 Baylor athletes were named All-Americans.
15) Texas Tech University
The Texas Tech track and field program—on both the men’s and women’s sides—is one of the best in the country. The men’s squad was last year’s national champion, and just this month, the Texas Tech men’s and women’s teams won the Big 12 indoor championships.
14) University of Houston
Texas is well-represented on the list of best track and field colleges, too. The men’s and women’s track and field programs at the University of Houston are consistently elite. In 2024, the men’s team finished the year 6th in the national rankings for outdoor track and field, and 9th overall for indoor. On the women’s side, recent highlights include KeAyla Dove coming in third in national shot put and earning All-American honors for the second time.
13) University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina is another ascendant track and field program. Tarheels from both the men’s and women’s teams were amongst this year’s indoor national champions. Makayla Paige finished first in the women’s 800-meter dash, and Ethan Strand won the men’s 3000-meter event. Strand is the first UNC men’s indoor NCAA champion since 2003, and Paige is the first women’s indoor NCAA champion since 2018. And for just the second time in team history, the men’s Tarheels finished within the top 10 in back-to-back years.
12) University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee boasts one of the best track and field programs in the country. The men’s team has won a total of 4 national championships—one indoor national championship, in 2002, and three outdoor championships, in 1974, 1991, and 2001. The Lady Vols are dominant too. They’ve been indoor national champions twice—in 2005 and 2009—and outdoor national champions once, in 1981. In total, the women’s program has produced 23 NCAA Indoor Individual champions, 13 Outdoor Individual champions, and 4 Olympic medalists.
11) Texas A&M University
In 2005, the already highly decorated Pat Henry took over as head coach of the Aggies’ track and field programs. Prior to Henry’s arrival, the women’s team had never won a title. But by 2007, Henry had led the women’s team to an indoor championship and an outdoor Big 12 Conference title. Three years in a row, from 2009 to 2011, the men’s and women’s teams won the NCAA outdoor titles.
10) University of Georgia
The women’s track and field squad at the University of Georgia finished the 2024 season as the third-best overall team in indoor track and field. The men weren’t quite as dominant, but they still finished the year ranked within the top 25. And with this year’s indoor championships having just concluded, the Bulldogs have proven that they’re one of the best track and field colleges in the country. The women’s Bulldogs, for the third year in a row, finished top 5 overall, and the men finished runners up—their second runners-up finish in the last three years.
9) Stanford University
The Stanford men’s track and field team last won a national title in 2000, when they became the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field champions. Prior to that, the men’s team had amassed three other national outdoor titles, in 1925, 1928, and 1934. Despite not being quite as dominant lately, the Cardinals still have a proven history of track and field success, having produced scores of men’s and women’s All-Americans over the years.
8) Florida State University
Florida State is a track and field powerhouse. The women’s team has won two national championships, one indoor national championship and one outdoor, and the men have amassed three NCAA Outdoor National Championships, in back-to-back-to-back years between 2006 and 2008.
7) University of Alabama
Alabama is one of the best track and field colleges in the country. In 2024, the women’s track and field team finished the year out as the 11th-best indoor track team, while the men finished the year at the 15 spot. In addition to their great team results, Alabama is also the home of one of the most electrifying track and field athletes in the country, Doris Lemngole. Originally from Kenya, Lemngole has already amassed three national NCAA individual titles. At the NCAA Indoor Championships this year, she won another title for the 5000-meter event.
6) University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas is home to one of the best track and field programs in the country. The men’s Longhorns are a consistent contender for the national team title in the indoor and outdoor championships, and a number of former Longhorns have gone on to win medals at the Olympics.
The women’s Longhorns are a straight-up track and field dynasty. They’ve won a total of 6 indoor national team championships and 5 outdoor national team championships, the most recent of which came in 2023. And plenty of women’s Longhorns have gone on to medal at the Olympic Games. In 2012, for example, American Sanya Richards-Ross won gold in the 400-meter dash
5) University of Florida
The Florida Gators men’s and women’s track teams have won a total of 15 national titles in the indoor and outdoor seasons, the fifth most all-time. The men’s team has been one of the most dominant forces in the sport over the last decade plus, winning 12 national championships since 2010, including three in a row outdoor titles from 2022 to 2024. And in 2022, the women’s Gators won both the indoor and outdoor national championships.
4) University of Oregon
The men’s and women’s track and field teams at the University of Oregon have combined to win a total of 23 national titles. So rich is the history of track and field at the University of Oregon that Hayward Field, the Ducks’ home field, is known popularly as Tracktown, USA.
In March, the women’s Ducks added to their list of accomplishments by winning the 2025 NCAA Indoor championships, their 11th national title.
3) University of Southern California
The Trojans’ men’s track and field team has won a total of 26 national titles. At their most dominant, they won 9 in a row between 1935 and 1943. But they’re not one of the best track and field colleges simply as a result of their historical success: the Trojans’ men’s team won the 2025 men’s indoor title. Overall, the men’s and women’s Trojans have won 31 national titles.
2) Louisiana State University
LSU’s long and consistent run of success makes it one of the premier track and field colleges in the country. And the women’s Tigers have an argument for being hands-down the best track and field program in the history of the sport. They’ve won a total of 25 national team championships, a feat impressive in any time span but even more so when considering the fact that the women’s track and field program didn’t even come into existence until 1978.
The resume highlights for the men’s team include a total of 7 national team championships, the first of which came all the way back in 1933 and the most recent of which came in 2021.
1) University of Arkansas
Arkansas is the best track and field college in the history of the sport. Combined, the men’s and women’s Razorbacks have won a total of 39 national track and field championships across both the indoor and outdoor seasons. That’s the most all-time, and 7 more than the next most-decorated team, LSU.
The women’s Razorbacks claimed back-to-back team indoor titles in 2023 and 2024. At the 2025 NCAA Indoor National Championships in Virginia Beach, both the men’s and women’s Razorbacks finished fourth place overall. Despite not defending their title, the women’s Razorbacks still put up some impressive results. Isabella Whittaker, competing in the 400-meter dash, broke an American and collegiate record with her 49.24-second performance. Jordan Anthony, on the men’s side, became an individual NCAA champion in the 60-meter event.
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