The new year signals a new season in NCAA track and field, and over the next few weeks we're going to peel back the layers within each power conference and outline where every team stands heading into the 2024 indoor (short track) season. 

In doing so, we'll look at top returners from the conference and also review roster sizes and season finishes from 2023. 

First up is the SEC Conference. 

On the men's side, defending NCAA indoor champions Arkansas will have their hands full with the likes of Georgia, which recruited better than any other team over the Class of 2023 signing period. 

With an infusion of talent into the roster -- top high school stars like Brody Buffington, Micah Larry, Mekhi Gammons and Zavien Wolfe all arrived on campus this past fall -- it will be hard to look past the Bulldogs, who finished fourth at SECs and were second at NCAAs this past year.  

But then again, Arkansas retains the likes of Jaydon Hibbert, who set two straight NCAA records in the triple jump -- earning two back-to-back national titles in the process -- and also earned the biggest distinction in NCAA track and field recently.

Another team to keep a close eye on? Tennessee. 

The Volunteers have the largest men's roster size of any SEC team going into the indoor campaign and have put ample resources into their coaching staff, too. 

Top stars to watch out for over the indoor season include Auburn's Favour Ashe (60m), Florida's Samuel Austin (800m), Alabama's Victor Kiprop (5K) and Tennessee's Yaseen Abdalla (5K). 

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Women's Teams Will Be Forced To Adapt

The SEC had talent in spades last year. And there was an inevitable fallout from that success: A handful of the conference's top females opted to jump into the professional ranks after robust NCAA campaigns in 2023. 

That included the likes of Britton Wilson (Arkansas), Jasmine Moore (Florida), Talitha Diggs (Florida), Ackera Nugent (Arkansas) and Favour Ofili (LSU). All five of those women all had eligibility left in 2024.

But one person's decision, they say, is another person's gain. 

That leaves the bar open. Who's to say this year won't equal or surpass the last? For starters, returning SEC champion Michaela Rose, who ran 2:01.09 in the 800m at conference and then finished third at NCAAs, returns. She won an NCAA outdoor title and in December signed an NIL deal with adidas. 

While Florida lost the likes of Diggs and Moore, the Gators signed Ramiah Elliott and Kayla Davis in 2022 and India Alix in 2023, giving the program depth in areas where they lost numbers. It could be a growth mindset for SEC on the track and in the field in 2024, with many young athletes blossoming before us. 

From a numbers standpoint, South Carolina has the largest roster size in the SEC this indoor season. 

Only two teams are under 40 females, and one of those teams is Georgia, which should be in the hunt for a conference title. 

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