Sunday, October 30, 2016

Final NCAA DI Men’s Regional Rankings Set Stage for Regional Championships


By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA
October 31, 2016   



NEW ORLEANS – Fresh off an exciting weekend of conference championships action, the final edition of the NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings set the stage for an equally dramatic slate of regional championship meets in two weeks’ time.
Three new No. 2 teams emerged from the nine regions in the rankings announced Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, as all nine regional favorites from a week ago held onto their No. 1 status.
Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Rankings Central | Women’s Rankings
UCLA, Michigan State and NC State moved to the all-important second position in their respective West, Great Lakes and Southeast regions.
Finishing top two at one of the nine regional championships on November 11 is of the highest importance, with those 18 teams earning automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana, on November 19.
The remainder of the field – 13 teams – will be determined by at-large berths, which are allocated based on teams’ bodies of work in the regular season.
Of the three regions with new No. 2 teams, the movement in the West will likely have the largest impact on Tuesday’s National Coaches’ Polls – announced live on the USTFCCCA’s “Cross Country U” podcast at noon ET.
With its third-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships, national No. 10 UCLA moved ahead of No. 3 Oregon in the West Rankings.  Both teams finished behind Pac-12 champ Colorado from the Mountain Region and current West favorite Stanford.
Entering the Big Ten Championships as the fourth-highest-ranked team in the field, Michigan State came just three points shy of upsetting regional favorite Wisconsin for its first conference title since the 1970s. The Spartans were rewarded in the Great Lakes Regional rankings for their effort, moving up two spots from last time to No. 2.
Also moving up two spots to No. 3 in the Great Lakes was third-place Indiana. The moves by the Spartans and Hoosiers displaced MAC Champion Eastern Michigan down a notch to No. 4, while Michigan dropped three spots to No. 5 after a disappointing fifth-place effort at Big Tens after coming in as the favorite to repeat.
NC State made the biggest move to No. 2 of any of these three teams, jumping up four spots in the Southeast after a close third-place finish at the ACC Championships. The Wolfpack finished just 10 points behind current regional favorite Virginia.
Virginia was the only team that remained stationary in the Southeast, as the remaining 14 teams either moved or entered the rankings.
While there wasn’t movement atop the Mountain Region, conference championships weekend did set up a dynamic showdown in Logan, Utah. Big Sky champ Northern Arizona, WCC winner BYU, Pac-12 winner Colorado and Conference USA champ UTEP are poised for a titanic clash.
See the full regional rankings below.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I

Men’s Cross Country Regional Team Rankings

2016 Week #6 — October 31

national poll release: November 1
next regional release: December 30
Win-loss record reflective of results in varsity competition of races 7500 meters or longer versus DI opponents starting September 9; RAOR = Record against own region
GREAT LAKES Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Wisconsin30-10 (7-0)Big Ten (1)
1
2Michigan State50-22 (8-4)Big Ten (2)
4
3Indiana50-6 (15-3)Big Ten (3)
5
4Eastern Michigan37-28 (13-2)Mid-American (1)
3
5Michigan69-11 (13-3)Big Ten (5)
2
6Purdue40-37 (11-9)Big Ten (7)
7
7Ohio State54-23 (15-7)Big Ten (8)
6
8Butler46-24 (7-5)Big East (3)
8
9IUPUI38-29 (13-7)Summit League (2)
9
10Dayton39-29 (12-8)Atlantic 10 (1)
10
11Miami (Ohio)30-7 (17-7)Mid-American (2)
12
12Ohio31-9 (15-6)Mid-American (4)
11
13Cincinnati27-6 (9-4)American (3)
13
14Youngstown State23-44 (11-10)Horizon (1)
NR
15Indiana State22-50 (7-14)Missouri Valley (3)
14
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Michigan, 2014: Wisconsin, 2013: Michigan, 2012: Wisconsin, 2011: Wisconsin
     
MID-ATLANTIC Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Georgetown49-14 (14-0)Big East (1)
1
2Penn41-21 (11-2)Ivy (1)
2
3Navy53-14 (18-2)Patriot (1)
3
4Princeton23-28 (5-3)Ivy (2)
4
5Villanova21-17 (2-4)Big East (4)
6
6Penn State24-34 (8-2)Big Ten (9)
5
7Duquesne37-12 (6-2)Atlantic 10 (2)
12
8Saint Joseph’s37-30 (18-11)Atlantic 10 (5)
10
9La Salle37-19 (18-5)Atlantic 10 (6)
7
10Pittsburgh21-35 (3-3)ACC (9)
8
11Rutgers24-21 (14-5)Big Ten (11)
9
12Lehigh23-56 (13-6)Patriot (4)
11
13Bucknell21-28 (7-9)Patriot (5)
13
14Temple17-25 (8-7)American (5)
15
15George Washington22-37 (12-14)Atlantic 10 (10)
14
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Georgetown, 2014: Villanova, 2013: Villanova, 2012: Georgetown, 2011: Georgetown
     
MIDWEST Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Oklahoma State27-0 (7-0)Big 12 (1)
1
2Iowa State56-9 (15-1)Big 12 (2)
2
3Tulsa29-13 (5-2)American (1)
3
4Bradley60-18 (17-2)Missouri Valley (1)
4
5Minnesota36-32 (12-3)Big Ten (4)
5
6South Dakota State30-34 (11-6)Summit League (1)
6
7Illinois49-45 (10-7)Big Ten (6)
7
8Missouri63-23 (8-2)SEC (6)
8
9Kansas25-24 (6-5)Big 12 (4)
10
10Oklahoma38-36 (8-10)Big 12 (6)
9
11Wichita State34-32 (10-7)Missouri Valley (2)
11
12Saint Louis41-3 (16-1)Atlantic 10 (3)
12
13Nebraska19-58 (5-9)Big Ten (10)
13
14Iowa28-58 (13-13)Big Ten (12)
14
15Eastern Illinois46-14 (25-4)Ohio Valley (4)
15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Oklahoma State, 2014: Oklahoma State, 2013: Oklahoma State, 2012: Oklahoma/Oklahoma State, 2011: Oklahoma State
     
MOUNTAIN Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Northern Arizona43-0 (9-0)Big Sky (1)
1
2BYU49-2 (3-1)West Coast (1)
2
3Colorado45-2 (6-0)Pac-12 (1)
3
4UTEP66-6 (8-1)Conference USA (1)
5
5Colorado State52-17 (8-2)Mountain West (2)
4
6Southern Utah68-24 (10-6)Big Sky (2)
6
7Air Force57-16 (8-5)Mountain West (3)
7
8Utah State36-17 (10-6)Mountain West (4)
8
9Texas Tech28-10 (2-0)Big 12 (5)
9
10New Mexico5-26 (1-7)Mountain West (5)
10
11Wyoming38-42 (6-12)Mountain West (6)
11
12Weber State22-20 (10-6)Big Sky (3)
12
13Idaho State13-33 (6-9)Big Sky (5)
13
14Montana State25-13 (5-8)Big Sky (6)
NR
15Utah Valley36-32 (1-5)WAC (2)
14
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Colorado, 2014: Colorado, 2013: Northern Arizona, 2012: Northern Arizona, 2011: BYU
     
NORTHEAST Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Syracuse57-4 (6-0)ACC (1)
1
2Iona61-4 (19-1)Metro Atlantic (1)
2
3Providence50-23 (12-3)Big East (2)
3
4Columbia38-31 (17-5)Ivy (3)
4
5Dartmouth68-33 (35-11)Ivy (4)
5
6Yale33-40 (17-15)Ivy (5)
7
7Cornell39-37 (10-8)Ivy (6)
6
8Northeastern32-31 (20-10)Colonial (2)
9
9Buffalo23-28 (4-7)Mid-American (3)
11
10Brown30-11 (29-9)Ivy (7)
10
11Army West Point32-10 (14-4)Patriot (2)
8
12Stony Brook36-15 (12-9)America East (1)
14
13Maine31-7 (29-7)America East (2)
13
14Albany23-20 (13-12)America East (3)
NR
15Boston University23-8 (18-7)Patriot (3)
NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Syracuse, 2014: Syracuse, 2013: Syracuse, 2012: Iona, 2011: Syracuse,
     
SOUTH Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Mississippi47-2 (8-0)SEC (2)
1
2Middle Tennessee51-2 (19-0)Conference USA (2)
2
3Florida State34-38 (8-1)ACC (5)
3
4Georgia68-12 (30-2)SEC (4)
4
5Alabama31-26 (15-8)SEC (5)
5
6Florida46-39 (13-4)SEC (8)
6
7Samford38-9 (17-1)Southern (2)
7
8North Florida23-1 (21-1)Atlantic Sun (1)
14
9Tennessee44-29 (24-13)SEC (9)
10
10Auburn50-27 (26-11)SEC (10)
8
11Georgia Tech39-30 (18-5)ACC (8)
9
12Belmont41-32 (19-12)Ohio Valley (2)
11
13Lipscomb40-28 (16-15)Atlantic Sun (2)
13
14Florida Gulf Coast24-5 (18-5)Atlantic Sun (3)
15
15ETSU35-20 (4-5)Southern (3)
NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Florida State, 2014: Mississippi, 2013: Georgia, 2012: Florida State, 2011: Florida State
     
SOUTH CENTRAL Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Arkansas64-1 (11-0)SEC (1)
1
2Texas28-18 (5-0)Big 12 (3)
2
3Texas A&M33-49 (17-4)SEC (7)
3
4Lamar40-3 (20-1)Southland (1)
6
5UT Arlington33-22 (10-3)Sun Belt (1)
5
6Stephen F. Austin16-4 (15-1)Southland (2)
7
7Baylor8-24 (2-3)Big 12 (7)
4
8McNeese State30-10 (17-4)Southland (3)
10
9Louisiana-Lafayette25-9 (16-3)Sun Belt (2)
12
10North Texas18-46 (10-2)Conference USA (4)
11
11Texas State10-6 (5-3)Sun Belt (3)
9
12Texas A&M-Corpus Christi18-8 (17-7)Southland (4)
8
13Sam Houston State14-14 (14-12)Southland (5)
NR
14Tulane14-19 (1-0)American (2)
NR
15Rice22-13 (6-2)Conference USA (5)
13
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Arkansas, 2014: Arkansas, 2013: Arkansas, 2012: Texas, 2011: Texas
     
SOUTHEAST Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Virginia36-5 (16-0)ACC (2)
1
2NC State32-35 (9-2)ACC (3)
6
3Virginia Tech48-6 (16-3)ACC (4)
2
4Kentucky48-5 (1-1)SEC (3)
3
5Furman56-23 (11-0)Southern (1)
4
6William and Mary21-11 (8-4)Colonial (1)
8
7Eastern Kentucky39-27 (6-1)Ohio Valley (1)
5
8Campbell37-30 (16-8)Big South (1)
9
9Charlotte21-16 (4-6)Conference USA (3)
10
10North Carolina12-55 (4-7)ACC (6)
NR
11Louisville58-34 (12-6)ACC (7)
7
12Liberty39-14 (16-7)Big South (2)
NR
13George Mason33-3 (22-0)Atlantic 10 (4)
12
14Appalachian State27-15 (19-6)Sun Belt (4)
NR
15Davidson46-27 (20-10)Atlantic 10 (7)
11
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Louisville, 2014: Virginia, 2013: Eastern Kentucky, 2012: Virginia, 2011: NC State
     
WEST Region
RankSchoolOverall (RAOR)Conference
Last Week
1Stanford47-10 (14-4)Pac-12 (2)
1
2UCLA53-12 (13-4)Pac-12 (3)
3
3Oregon51-3 (16-2)Pac-12 (4)
2
4Portland63-8 (18-3)West Coast (2)
4
5Washington State47-18 (11-6)Pac-12 (5)
5
6Boise State48-16 (7-5)Mountain West (1)
6
7California49-21 (6-7)Pac-12 (6)
9
8Washington22-24 (8-12)Pac-12 (7)
7
9San Francisco53-21 (12-5)West Coast (3)
8
10Cal Poly47-11 (20-3)Big West (1)
10
11Gonzaga18-31 (7-6)West Coast (4)
11
12UC Santa Barbara29-5 (24-4)Big West (2)
14
13Arizona State17-38 (9-11)Pac-12 (8)
12
14San Jose State20-8 (15-3)Mountain West (7)
13
15St. Mary’s (Calif.)20-9 (15-8)West Coast (5)
15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Washington, 2014: Oregon, 2013: Stanford, 2012: Stanford, 2011: Stanford



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