With most of the major collegiate conferences on tap this weekend, that means the NCAA Championships are just around the bend. At the beginning of the season I gave my predictions for those collegians I felt were the favorites to win their respective events in Eugene. Seems like a good time to update that list as they begin to position themselves and their teams.
Looking back at the first list I don’t see that many changes. Mostly because there really isn’t much of a collegiate season – mostly competing on the relay circuit. So as we really get into the “championship” portion of the collegiate season I’m sure we’ll begin to get a better idea of just where all the athletes really are. Which means I’ll probably have to come back just before Nationals for one final update. So following is how I see things as everyone prepares to head into battle.
2010 MEN’S COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIIP FAVORITES
| Event | Athlete | School |
| 100 Meters | Jeff Demps | Florida |
| 200 Meters | Curtis Mitchell | Texas A&M |
| 400 Meters | Tavaris Tate | Mississippi State |
| 800 Meters | Andrew Wheating | Oregon |
| 1500 Meters | Andrew Wheating | Oregon |
| 3000 Steeplechase | Richard Nelson | BYU |
| 5000 Meters | David McNeill | Northern Arizona |
| 10000 Meters | Sam Chalenga | Liberty |
| 110 Hurdles | Ronnie Ash | Oklahoma |
| 400 Hurdles | Jesua Anderson | Washington State |
| 4 x 100 Relay | Rankin, Hall, Wilks, Demps | Florida |
| 4 x 400 Relay | Anderson McQuay, Taylor, Smith | Florida |
| High Jump | Clint Silcock | Utah State |
| Pole Vault | Jason Colwick | Rice |
| Long Jump | Alain Bailey | Arkansas |
| Triple Jump | Christian Taylor | Florida |
| Shot Put | Ryan Whiting | Arizona |
| Discus | Mason Finley | Kansas |
| Hammer | Marcel Lomnicky | Virginia Tech |
| Javelin | Sam Humphreys | Texas A&M |
| Decathlon | Ashton Eaton | Oregon |
2010 WOMEN’S COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP FAVORITES
| Event | Athlete | School |
| 100 Meters | Blessing Okagbare | BYU |
| 200 Meters | Porsha Lucas | Texas A&M |
| 400 Meters | Francena McCorory | Hampton |
| 800 Meters | LaTavia Thomas | LSU |
| 1500 Meters | Jordan Hassay | Oregon |
| 3000 Steeplechase | Mel Lawrence | Washington |
| 5000 Meters | Lisa Koll | Iowa State |
| 10000 Meters | Lisa Koll | Iowa State |
| 100 Hurdles | Queen Harrison | Virginia Tech |
| 400 Hurdles | Queen Harrison | Virginia Tech |
| 4 x 100 Relay | Tarmoh, Lucas, Duncan, Mayo | Texas A&M |
| 4 x 400 Relay | Hall, Tate, Thompson, Thomas | LSU |
| High Jump | Amber Kaufman | Hawaii |
| Pole Vault | Melissa Gergel | Oregon |
| Long Jump | Blessing Okagbare | UTEP |
| Triple Jump | Deanna Young | New Mexico |
| Shot Put | Mariam Kevkhishvilli | Florida |
| Discus | Simone du Toit | SMU |
| Hammer | Nicola Lomnicka | Georgia |
| Javelin | Anna Wessman | UTEP |
| Heptathlon | Brianne Theisen | Oregon |