NCAA DI Women’s Week 1 Regional Rankings Released

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

September 12, 2016

NEW ORLEANS — Many teams in NCAA Division I cross country treat the first few weeks of the regular season as a warmup of sorts — a way to get their racing legs back under them after a long offseason of base mileage.
We don’t often see top runners, who most likely had long track seasons, until the season is well underway. With that known, there are usually very few changes to the Regional Rankings from the Preseason to Week 1.
QUICK LINKS: Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Rankings Central | Men’s Rankings
Such was the case in the women’s rankings released Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Each of the nine preseason favorites remained atop their regions — Michigan State (Great Lakes), Penn State (Mid-Atlantic), Oklahoma State (Midwest), New Mexico (Mountain), Providence (Northeast), Mississippi State (South), Arkansas (South Central), NC State (Southeast) and Oregon (West).
In fact, all of the second-ranked teams were still in their spots, too — Michigan, Georgetown, Kansas, Colorado, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Texas, Virginia and Boise State.
Two regions saw the third-ranked and fourth-ranked teams swap spots. That happened in the Midwest Region, where Minnesota leapfrogged Iowa State as well as in the Mountain Region with BYU jumping Weber State.
Down in the South Central, Baylor and SMU traded numbers as the Bears went up to No. 4 and the Mustangs dropped to No. 5.
The biggest movers in this week’s Regional Rankings were North Carolina and Coastal Carolina, both out of the Southeast Region. Both are knocking on the door of the top-5 following seven- and six-spot jumps. The Tar Heels went from No. 13 to No. 6, while the Chanticleers are No. 8 after being No. 14 last week.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow at noon ET for the live unveiling of the USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll on "Cross Country U," the new podcast brought to you by the USTFCCCA.
NCAA Division I Regional Championships will be held around the country on Friday, November 11 with the return of the NCAA Championships to Terre Haute, Indiana, eight days later.
USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning teams strength with current season results (if applicable) in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Women’s Cross Country Regional Team Rankings
2016 Week #1 — September 12
national poll release: September 13
next regional release: September 19
RAOR = Record against own region (since September 9, reported to TFRRS)
GREAT LAKES Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Michigan State	—	Big Ten	1
2	Michigan	2-0 (1-0)	Big Ten	2
3	Notre Dame	—	ACC	3
4	Wisconsin	2-1 (-)	Big Ten	4
5	Eastern Michigan	—	Mid-American	5
6	Indiana	—	Big Ten	6
7	Ohio State	3-0 (3-0)	Big Ten	7
8	Purdue	4-0 (-)	Big Ten	8
9	Butler	2-0 (2-0)	Big East	9
10	Marquette	3-0 (3-0)	Big East	12
11	Toledo	—	Mid-American	15
12	Xavier	0-3 (0-3)	Big East	10
13	Central Michigan	—	Mid-American	14
14	Western Michigan	—	Mid-American	11
15	Miami (Ohio)	—	Mid-American	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Michigan, 2014: Michigan State, 2013: Michigan, 2012: Michigan, 2011: Michigan


MID-ATLANTIC Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Penn State	—	Big Ten	1
2	Georgetown	—	Big East	2
3	Penn	2-0 (2-0)	Ivy	3
4	Princeton	4-4 (2-1)	Ivy	4
5	Villanova	—	Big East	5
6	West Virginia	—	Big 12	7
7	Pittsburgh	6-2 (2-2)	ACC	6
8	La Salle	—	Atlantic 10	8
9	Bucknell	—	Patriot	9
10	Maryland	24-0 (24-0)	Big Ten	12
11	Navy	19-5 (19-5)	Patriot	10
12	Duquesne	8-0 (4-0)	Atlantic 10	11
13	Rutgers	—	Big Ten	14
14	Saint Joseph’s	0-2 (0-2)	Atlantic 10	13
15	Rider	—	Metro Atlantic	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Penn State, 2014: Georgetown, 2013: Villanova, 2012: Penn State, 2011: Georgetown/Villanova,


MIDWEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Oklahoma State	—	Big 12	1
2	Kansas	4-0 (4-0)	Big 12	2
3	Minnesota	3-0 (2-0)	Big Ten	4
4	Iowa State	4-3 (4-3)	Big 12	3
5	Tulsa	—	American	5
6	Missouri	1-6 (1-6)	SEC	6
7	Oklahoma	—	Big 12	9
8	Wichita State	—	Missouri Valley	7
9	Northern Illinois	10-1 (10-1)	Mid-American	NR
10	North Dakota State	2-0 (2-0)	Summit League	11
11	South Dakota	2-0 (2-0)	Summit League	13
12	Iowa	15-1 (15-1)	Big Ten	NR
13	Illinois	7-4 (7-4)	Big Ten	8
14	Creighton	6-1 (6-1)	Big East	NR
15	Illinois State	8-8 (8-8)	Missouri Valley	12
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Oklahoma State, 2014: Iowa State, 2013: Iowa State, 2012: Iowa State, 2011: Iowa State


MOUNTAIN Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	New Mexico	1-1 (1-1)	Mountain West	1
2	Colorado	3-1 (3-1)	Pac-12	2
3	BYU	—	West Coast	4
4	Weber State	—	Big Sky	3
5	Utah	1-3 (1-2)	Pac-12	5
6	Colorado State	2-2 (2-2)	Mountain West	6
7	Northern Arizona	2-1 (-)	Big Sky	7
8	Utah State	3-1 (3-0)	Mountain West	8
9	Air Force	4-0 (4-0)	Mountain West	9
10	Montana State	—	Big Sky	10
11	Wyoming	1-3 (1-3)	Mountain West	11
12	Texas Tech	—	Big 12	12
13	Nevada	6-0 (-)	Mountain West	15
14	UTEP	3-0 (3-0)	Conference USA	NR
15	Southern Utah	3-2 (3-1)	Big Sky	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: New Mexico, 2014: Colorado, 2013: Colorado, 2012: Weber State, 2011: New Mexico/Colorado


NORTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Providence	2-0 (2-0)	Big East	1
2	Syracuse	4-0 (4-0)	ACC	2
3	Yale	8-0 (4-0)	Ivy	3
4	Harvard	—	Ivy	4
5	Columbia	2-0 (2-0)	Ivy	5
6	Cornell	—	Ivy	7
7	Brown	2-0 (2-0)	Ivy	6
8	Boston College	5-0 (5-0)	ACC	8
9	New Hampshire	1-1 (1-1)	America East	9
10	Dartmouth	—	Ivy	10
11	Stony Brook	2-1 (2-1)	America East	11
12	Iona	2-0 (2-0)	Metro Atlantic	12
13	Buffalo	3-1 (3-1)	Mid-American	14
14	Albany	2-2 (2-2)	America East	13
15	Vermont	4-1 (4-1)	America East	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Providence, 2014: Iona, 2013: Providence, 2012: Providence, 2011: Syracuse


SOUTH Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Mississippi State	9-1 (5-1)	SEC	1
2	Vanderbilt	5-0 (4-0)	SEC	2
3	Mississippi	11-2 (6-2)	SEC	3
4	Auburn	10-1 (7-0)	SEC	4
5	Alabama	15-1 (11-1)	SEC	5
6	Florida State	3-2 (1-1)	ACC	6
7	Lipscomb	4-1 (3-1)	Atlantic Sun	7
8	Florida	5-0 (2-0)	SEC	8
9	Middle Tennessee	12-4 (8-4)	Conference USA	9
10	Georgia	2-0 (2-0)	SEC	10
11	Georgia Tech	1-1 (1-1)	ACC	12
12	UAB	5-5 (1-5)	Conference USA	NR
13	UCF	—	American	NR
14	Jacksonville	—	Atlantic Sun	14
15	North Florida	—	Atlantic Sun	13
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Vanderbilt, 2014: Vanderbilt, 2013: Florida State, 2012: Florida State, 2011: Florida State


SOUTH CENTRAL Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Arkansas	—	SEC	1
2	Texas	4-0 (4-0)	Big 12	2
3	Rice	11-0 (11-0)	Conference USA	3
4	Baylor	—	Big 12	5
5	SMU	3-1 (2-1)	American	4
6	Texas A&M	2-0 (2-0)	SEC	6
7	Stephen F. Austin	12-3 (12-3)	Southland	7
8	Houston	12-3 (12-3)	American	11
9	LSU	11-3 (11-3)	SEC	NR
10	Lamar	8-5 (8-5)	Southland	8
11	UT Arlington	1-2 (1-1)	Sun Belt	9
12	North Texas	2-3 (2-2)	Conference USA	10
13	Central Arkansas	4-6 (3-0)	Southland	NR
14	TCU	—	Big 12	NR
15	Incarnate Word	—	Southland	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Arkansas, 2014: Arkansas, 2013: Arkansas, 2012: Arkansas, 2011: Arkansas


SOUTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	NC State	—	ACC	1
2	Virginia	2-0 (2-0)	ACC	2
3	William and Mary	4-0 (3-0)	Colonial	3
4	Virginia Tech	2-0 (2-0)	ACC	4
5	Furman	8-0 (6-0)	Southern	5
6	North Carolina	4-0 (4-0)	ACC	13
7	Kentucky	—	SEC	7
8	Coastal Carolina	4-3 (4-3)	Sun Belt	14
9	Louisville	2-0 (-)	ACC	8
10	Elon	5-1 (5-1)	Colonial	6
11	James Madison	5-1 (5-1)	Colonial	10
12	Clemson	4-4 (3-3)	ACC	11
13	Duke	1-1 (-)	ACC	12
14	Eastern Kentucky	2-0 (1-0)	Ohio Valley	9
15	Richmond	3-1-1 (2-1)	Atlantic 10	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Virginia, 2014: William and Mary, 2013: Virginia, 2012: Duke, 2011: Virginia,


WEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Oregon	—	Pac-12	1
2	Boise State	4-0 (-)	Mountain West	2
3	Stanford	6-1 (6-1)	Pac-12	3
4	Washington	—	Pac-12	4
5	San Francisco	7-0 (7-0)	West Coast	5
6	Portland	2-0 (2-0)	West Coast	6
7	California	5-2 (5-2)	Pac-12	7
8	Arizona State	3-0 (2-0)	Pac-12	10
9	Cal Poly	—	Big West	9
10	UCLA	4-2 (4-0)	Pac-12	11
11	Gonzaga	2-4 (0-4)	West Coast	8
12	Washington State	—	Pac-12	12
13	Arizona	1-2 (1-1)	Pac-12	13
14	UC Davis	—	Big West	14
15	San Jose State	4-3 (4-3)	Mountain West	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Oregon, 2014: Oregon, 2013: Arizona, 2012: Oregon, 2011: Washington