Wisconsin, Florida State Now Are Atop National Coaches Poll in DI

November 1, 2011



NEW ORLEANS – Wisconsin's men's cross country team is the new number one squad in the country according to the nation's coaches. After a very busy conference championship weekend, the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll for NCAA's Division I reflect those who made the best case for a spot among the nation's elite. The focus will shift to NCAA Regional Championships in the coming days as Wisconsin takes over the men's top spot for the first time since 2007 and Florida State's women retain the No. 1 position for the second-straight voting week.



AROUND THE POLLS



MEN





* Wisconsin takes over as the new No. 1 team in the land. The Badgers won the Big Ten Championship on Sunday, and for the 13th-consecutive time, with a commanding performance, in scoring just 17 points. Wisconsin claimed seven of 12 first-place votes in the poll and are on top of the national poll for the first time since September 25, 2007.



* No. 2 Oklahoma State topped No. 5 Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship title, 30-43. The Cowboys, the two-time defending NCAA Champions, had been ranked No. 1 since the preseason.



* No. 3 BYU unseated No. 8 Portland from their 32-year perch atop the West Coast Conference podium with a 25-32 win over the Pilots. The Cougars joined the WCC for the first time in July.



* No. 4 Colorado has reached a season-high ranking after winning the Pac-12 title, over then-No. 4 Stanford, 46-53, in their first-ever appearance at the league meet. The Buffs joined the Pac-12 for the first time this summer after enjoying a successful stay in the Big 12.



* Reaching season highs in the poll this week are No. 13 Villanova, No. 19 Michigan, and No. 25 North Carolina. Villanova scored a big victory, 43-94 over Georgetown for the Big East crown. Michigan tied for third with Minnesota at the Big Ten meet. And, North Carolina was third at the ACC Championships where No. 11 NC State took the title for the second time in three years.



* The Big East and Big Ten share the helm as the conferences with most teams in the top 30 with five. The Pac-12 and Big 12 each have four squads in the top 30, followed by the ACC (3).



WOMEN



* No. 1 Florida State dominated the ACC Championships in scoring just 20 points for their fourth-straight league crown.



* No. 2 Villanova, the two-time defending NCAA Champs, jumped up two spots after claiming the Big East title, 54-63 over No. 5 Providence. For the Wildcats, it was their fourth-straight Big East championship.



* In their first year in a new league, No. 3 Colorado (50) climbed 13 spots from 16th after taking the Pac-12 Championship crown from nearest challengers then-No. 2 Washington (73) and No. 8 Stanford (75).



* No. 4 Vanderbilt dropped a spot despite winning their first-ever SEC Championship in women's cross country on Monday. The Commodores placed five runners in the top ten to score 30 points and top nearest challengers then-No. 14 Arkansas (61) and Florida (62).



* Also reaching season highs in this week's poll are No. 11 Oregon, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 13 West Virginia, No. 20 NC State, and No. 27 San Francisco.



* At No. 28, Wisconsin is ranked in the national top 30 for the first time this season.



* Conferences leading with teams in the top 30 are: Big East (6), Pac-12 (6), ACC (5), Big Ten (5), and Big 12 (3).



NOTE: Next week is slated to be a "repeat" week, meaning all positions on this week's poll will carry to next week.



The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held on Monday, November 21, in Terre Haute, Ind. NCAA Regional Championships will be held nine days prior on Saturday, November 12.



USTFCCCA

NCAA Division I

Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

2011 Week #8 -- November 1

next ranking: November 8 (repeat), November 15 (regular)


Rank
Institution (FPV)
Points
Region
Conference
Head Coach (Yr*)
Last Week

1
Wisconsin (7)
355
Great Lakes
Big Ten
Mick Byrne (4th)
2

2
Oklahoma State (5)
352
Midwest
Big 12
Dave Smith (6th)
1

3
BYU
326
Mountain
West Coast
Ed Eyestone (12th)
3

4
Colorado
318
Mountain
Pac-12
Mark Wetmore (17th)
6

5
Oklahoma
312
Midwest
Big 12
Martin Smith (7th)
5

6
Stanford
305
West
Pac-12
Jason Dunn (5th)
4

7
Indiana
286
Great Lakes
Big Ten
Ron Helmer (5th)
7

8
Portland
267
West
West Coast
Rob Conner (22nd)
8

9
Iona
264
Northeast
Metro Atlantic
Ricardo Santos (4th)
10

9
Princeton
264
Mid-Atlantic
Ivy
Steve Dolan (8th)
9

11
Texas
212
South Central
Big 12
Bubba Thornton (17th)
11

12
Northern Arizona
210
Mountain
Big Sky
Eric Heins (5th)
13

13
Villanova
204
Mid-Atlantic
Big East
Marcus O'Sullivan (12th)
16

14
NC State
195
Southeast
ACC
Rollie Geiger (34th)
19

15
Arkansas
194
South Central
SEC
Chris Bucknam (4th)
15

16
Florida State
172
South
ACC
Bob Braman (12th)
18

17
Oregon
162
West
Pac-12
Vin Lananna (7th)
23

18
Minnesota
160
Midwest
Big Ten
Steve Plasencia (16th)
12

19
Michigan
145
Great Lakes
Big Ten
Alex Gibby (2nd)
21

20
Eastern Kentucky
137
Southeast
Ohio Valley
Rick Erdmann (33rd)
17

21
UCLA
109
West
Pac-12
Mike Maynard (3rd)
20

22
Columbia
96
Northeast
Ivy
Willy Wood (18th)
28

23
Georgetown
94
Mid-Atlantic
Big East
Patrick Henner (13th)
RV

24
Texas A&M
89
South Central
Big 12
Pat Henry (8th)
24

25
North Carolina
60
Southeast
ACC
Peter Watson (3rd)
30

26
Louisville
48
Southeast
Big East
Ron Mann (8th)
RV

27
Tulsa
43
Midwest
Conference USA
Steve Gully (10th)
27

28
Ohio State
41
Great Lakes
Big Ten
Robert Gary (16th)
26

29
Syracuse
38
Northeast
Big East
Chris Fox (7th)
NR

30
Providence
36
Northeast
Big East
Ray Treacy (28th)
14

Others Receiving Votes: Cal Poly 18, Washington State 17, Arizona State 14, Florida 12, New Mexico 10, California 8, Notre Dame 4, Lamar 3, Utah State 1.


Dropped Out: No. 22 Washington State, No. 25 Arizona State, No. 29 Notre Dame

compiled by Don Kopriva

(* year as head coach of that team in men's cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)


USTFCCCA

NCAA Division I

Women's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

2011 Week #8 -- November 1

next ranking: November 8 (repeat), November 15 (regular)


Rank
Institution (FPV)
Points
Region
Conference
Head Coach (Yr*)
Last Week

1
Florida State (10)
357
South
ACC
Karen Harvey (5th)
1

2
Villanova (1)
340
Mid-Atlantic
Big East
Gina Procaccio (12th)
4

3
Colorado (1)
331
Mountain
Pac-12
Mark Wetmore (17th)
16

4
Vanderbilt
319
South
SEC
Steve Keith (6th)
3

5
Providence
315
Northeast
Big East
Ray Treacy (28th)
7

6
Washington
307
West
Pac-12
Greg Metcalf (10th)
2

7
Georgetown
287
Mid-Atlantic
Big East
Chris Miltenberg (4th)
6

8
Stanford
282
West
Pac-12
Patti Sue Plumer (1st)
8

9
Syracuse
249
Northeast
Big East
Chris Fox (7th)
9

10
Iowa State
244
Midwest
Big 12
Corey Ihmels (5th)
13

11
Oregon
241
West
Pac-12
Vin Lananna (7th)
11

12
Michigan State
229
Great Lakes
Big Ten
Walt Drenth (8th)
15

13
West Virginia
196
Mid-Atlantic
Big East
Sean Cleary (5th)
18

14
Texas
183
South Central
Big 12
Bev Kearney (20th)
12

15
Michigan
181
Great Lakes
Big Ten
Mike McGuire (22nd)
19

16
Arizona
178
West
Pac-12
Fred Harvey (10th)
5

17
Arkansas
165
South Central
SEC
Lance Harter (22nd)
14

18
Boston College
161
Northeast
ACC
Randy Thomas (20th)
24

19
New Mexico
149
Mountain
Mountain West
Joe Franklin (5th)
20

20
NC State
118
Southeast
ACC
Laurie Henes (6th)
21

21
Virginia
111
Southeast
ACC
Jason Vigilante (4th)
17

22
Penn State
102
Mid-Atlantic
Big Ten
Beth Alford-Sullivan (13th)
26

23
Oklahoma State
100
Midwest
Big 12
Dave Smith (3rd)
30

24
Notre Dame
86
Great Lakes
Big East
Tim Connelly (24th)
23

25
North Carolina
72
Southeast
ACC
Peter Watson (3rd)
22

26
California
65
West
Pac-12
Tony Sandoval (30th)
10

27
San Francisco
50
West
West Coast
Helen Lehman-Winters (9th)
29

28
Wisconsin
44
Great Lakes
Big Ten
Jim Stintzi (8th)
RV

29
Cornell
31
Northeast
Ivy
Rich Bowman (1st)
25

30
Minnesota
23
Midwest
Big Ten
Gary Wilson (27th)
RV

Others Receiving Votes: Florida 15, Columbia 14, Connecticut 12, Toledo 11, Texas Tech 5.


Dropped Out: No. 27 Iowa, No. 28 Connecticut

compiled by Jesse Rosen

(* year as head coach of that team in women's cross country, officially NCAA-recognized coach listed)








---

Tom Lewis

U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association

Communications Manager

1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750

New Orleans, LA 70163

(O) 504-599-8904 (F) 504-599-8909

Email: tom@ustfccca.org

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