Newest NCAA DI Men’s Regional Rankings Announced

By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA

October 3, 2016

NEW ORLEANS – As the NCAA Division I Cross Country season enters the heart of its regular-season schedule, teams around the nation continue to jockey for qualifying position in the newest men’s Regional Rankings.
A pair of teams moved into their regions’ respective second positions – remember, the top two teams at each regional championship next month get automatic berths to the NCAA Championships – in the latest edition of the rankings announced Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Both of those moves and others in today’s Regional Rankings will also have significant ramifications in Tuesday’s newest National Coaches’ Polls, which will be announced live on the “Cross Country U” podcast at noon ET on USTFCCCA.org.
Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Rankings Central | Women’s Rankings
In its first appearance of the season, Iona resolved lingering questions and uncertainty with a decisive victory at the Paul Short Run. The Gaels scored a clear victory over Mid-Atlantic Region No. 1 Georgetown, 34-115, to move to No. 2 in the Northeast Region behind defending national champion Syracuse.
Led by the second- and third-place duo of Kieran Clements and Gilbert Kirui, five Gaels finished in the top-12; no other team had more than two in that same range.
Overall, the Northeast was by far the most active region in the rankings this week with 12 of its 15 ranked teams checking in with a different mark than a week ago. Providence moved up two spots to No. 3 after finishing fourth in a strong Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational field. Last week’s No. 2 Columbia fell two spots after a fifth-place showing at Paul Short.
Joining Iona as this week’s other new top-two team was Middle Tennessee State. The Blue Raiders overtook Florida State for the second spot in the South after a strong runner-up showing among DI teams at the Greater Louisville Classic to Virginia Tech, 59-62. Jacob Choge was the runner-up individually for MTSU.
Should the Blue Raiders hold onto or improve upon this rank at the South Region Championships, it would mark their first-ever appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships as a team.
For its part, Virginia Tech of the Southeast Region was the lone othermen’s team this week that moved up onto “the bubble” at No. 3. The Hokies displaced NC State, which finished a disappointing 11th at Notre Dame, to No. 4 in the SE.
Navy moved up to No. 4 in the Mid-Atlantic with a sixth-place Paul Short showing, while Eastern Michigan and UCLA moved up to No. 5 in their respective Great Lakes and West regions.
See the full regional rankings below.

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Men’s Cross Country Regional Team Rankings
2016 Week #4 — October 3
national poll release: October 4
next regional release: October 17
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
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Indiana	7-0 (4-0)	Big Ten	1
2	Wisconsin	— (—)	Big Ten	2
3	Michigan	27-4 (2-0)	Big Ten	3
4	Michigan State	28-4 (4-1)	Big Ten	4
5	Eastern Michigan	16-12 (5-1)	Mid-American	6
6	Purdue	12-16 (4-2)	Big Ten	5
7	IUPUI	19-4 (8-2)	Summit League	7
8	Youngstown State	17-6 (5-1)	Horizon	NR
9	Ohio State	30-4 (12-2)	Big Ten	9
10	Notre Dame	9-25 (4-2)	ACC	8
11	Butler	18-3 (0-1)	Big East	11
12	Bowling Green	13-8 (5-3)	Mid-American	NR
13	Indiana State	12-14 (4-7)	Missouri Valley	13
14	Dayton	20-4 (15-3)	Atlantic 10	NR
15	Cincinnati	6-7 (6-7)	American	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Michigan, 2014: Wisconsin, 2013: Michigan, 2012: Wisconsin, 2011: Wisconsin

MID-ATLANTIC Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Georgetown	31-3 (15-0)	Big East	1
2	Penn	24-2 (9-1)	Ivy	2
3	Princeton	15-7 (5-5)	Ivy	3
4	Navy	43-19 (13-3)	Patriot	5
5	Villanova	12-4 (-)	Big East	4
6	Penn State	13-22 (4-3)	Big Ten	7
7	La Salle	14-13 (7-3)	Atlantic 10	9
8	Saint Joseph’s	16-24 (9-9)	Atlantic 10	8
9	Lehigh	15-20 (10-6)	Patriot	6
10	Bucknell	13-13 (4-3)	Patriot	10
11	Duquesne	21-2 (1-0)	Atlantic 10	11
12	Rutgers	5-8 (4-4)	Big Ten	12
13	Pittsburgh	8-20 (0-2)	ACC	13
14	American	5-8 (1-1)	Patriot	14
15	Temple	11-22 (6-7)	American	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Georgetown, 2014: Villanova, 2013: Villanova, 2012: Georgetown, 2011: Georgetown

MIDWEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Oklahoma State	5-0 (3-0)	Big 12	1
2	Iowa State	27-1 (8-0)	Big 12	2
3	Tulsa	4-1 (2-1)	American	3
4	Minnesota	20-8 (7-1)	Big Ten	4
5	Illinois	40-14 (8-2)	Big Ten	5
6	Oklahoma	13-15 (3-5)	Big 12	6
7	Bradley	20-9 (4-1)	Missouri Valley	7
8	South Dakota State	17-12 (6-3)	Summit League	8
9	Kansas	2-1 (1-0)	Big 12	9
10	Wichita State	16-4 (3-2)	Missouri Valley	10
11	Missouri	31-6 (3-1)	SEC	11
12	Iowa	23-14 (13-4)	Big Ten	12
13	Nebraska	8-20 (3-2)	Big Ten	13
14	Kansas State	5-4 (3-3)	Big 12	14
15	Eastern Illinois	21-5 (10-1)	Ohio Valley	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Oklahoma State, 2014: Oklahoma State, 2013: Oklahoma State, 2012: Oklahoma/Oklahoma State, 2011: Oklahoma State

MOUNTAIN Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Northern Arizona	3-0 (-)	Big Sky	1
2	BYU	13-0 (-)	West Coast	2
3	Colorado	— (—)	Pac-12	3
4	UTEP	23-1 (4-0)	Conference USA	4
5	Colorado State	27-7 (3-0)	Mountain West	5
6	Southern Utah	40-12 (5-2)	Big Sky	6
7	Air Force	20-8 (2-2)	Mountain West	7
8	Utah State	7-0 (6-0)	Mountain West	9
9	Weber State	13-18 (6-4)	Big Sky	10
10	Texas Tech	13-3 (-)	Big 12	12
11	New Mexico	2-22 (0-4)	Mountain West	8
12	Utah Valley	24-1 (-)	WAC	11
13	Wyoming	17-18 (5-4)	Mountain West	13
14	Idaho State	6-29 (3-6)	Big Sky	14
15	New Mexico State	1-1 (-)	WAC	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Colorado, 2014: Colorado, 2013: Northern Arizona, 2012: Northern Arizona, 2011: BYU

NORTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Syracuse	19-1 (2-0)	ACC	1
2	Iona	30-5 (13-5)	Metro Atlantic	3
3	Providence	33-4 (11-1)	Big East	5
4	Columbia	28-8 (13-6)	Ivy	2
5	Dartmouth	34-6 (19-3)	Ivy	4
6	Cornell	26-8 (7-5)	Ivy	7
7	Army West Point	26-9 (13-5)	Patriot	8
8	Brown	10-3 (9-2)	Ivy	9
9	Harvard	16-13 (5-7)	Ivy	11
10	Buffalo	17-14 (5-8)	Mid-American	15
11	Yale	7-24 (4-1)	Ivy	6
12	Stony Brook	13-15 (3-9)	America East	10
13	Maine	10-4 (9-3)	America East	13
14	Connecticut	4-0 (2-0)	American	14
15	Canisius	17-24 (4-11)	Metro Atlantic	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Syracuse, 2014: Syracuse, 2013: Syracuse, 2012: Iona, 2011: Syracuse,

SOUTH Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Mississippi	24-0 (2-0)	SEC	1
2	Middle Tennessee	21-0 (10-0)	Conference USA	3
3	Florida State	10-14 (1-1)	ACC	2
4	Georgia	39-9 (10-1)	SEC	4
5	Alabama	8-16 (0-2)	SEC	5
6	Florida	27-10 (10-1)	SEC	6
7	Tennessee	14-7 (7-3)	SEC	9
8	Auburn	18-7 (8-2)	SEC	7
9	Georgia Tech	15-18 (5-1)	ACC	8
10	Tennessee Tech	13-8 (6-4)	Ohio Valley	10
11	Lipscomb	19-15 (5-5)	Atlantic Sun	11
12	Belmont	18-22 (5-6)	Ohio Valley	12
13	North Florida	9-1 (9-1)	Atlantic Sun	13
14	Florida Gulf Coast	8-2 (8-2)	Atlantic Sun	14
15	ETSU	4-3 (-)	Southern	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Florida State, 2014: Mississippi, 2013: Georgia, 2012: Florida State, 2011: Florida State

SOUTH CENTRAL Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Arkansas	27-2 (8-0)	SEC	1
2	Texas	12-12 (3-0)	Big 12	2
3	Texas A&M	24-13 (13-1)	SEC	3
4	Baylor	6-18 (1-2)	Big 12	4
5	UT Arlington	4-20 (0-3)	Sun Belt	5
6	Lamar	11-2 (10-1)	Southland	6
7	Stephen F. Austin	2-3 (1-0)	Southland	8
8	Texas State	1-4 (0-1)	Sun Belt	9
9	North Texas	9-7 (7-1)	Conference USA	7
10	McNeese State	10-3 (9-2)	Southland	10
11	Louisiana-Lafayette	8-8 (6-2)	Sun Belt	13
12	Rice	1-2 (-)	Conference USA	12
13	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	9-4 (8-3)	Southland	11
14	LSU	8-5 (7-4)	SEC	14
15	Central Arkansas	17-18 (14-8)	Southland	15
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Arkansas, 2014: Arkansas, 2013: Arkansas, 2012: Texas, 2011: Texas

SOUTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Eastern Kentucky	24-2 (3-0)	Ohio Valley	1
2	Virginia	11-2 (6-0)	ACC	2
3	Virginia Tech	7-0 (4-0)	ACC	4
4	NC State	14-10 (1-1)	ACC	3
5	Campbell	12-8 (7-6)	Big South	5
6	Kentucky	12-3 (0-1)	SEC	6
7	Louisville	16-5 (4-0)	ACC	7
8	William and Mary	8-5 (4-2)	Colonial	8
9	Furman	19-13 (4-0)	Southern	9
10	Davidson	11-10 (3-1)	Atlantic 10	12
11	Charlotte	7-6 (3-3)	Conference USA	11
12	Liberty	6-1 (3-1)	Big South	NR
13	George Mason	4-0 (1-0)	Atlantic 10	13
14	Appalachian State	4-9 (2-4)	Sun Belt	14
15	Wake Forest	— (—)	ACC	NR
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Louisville, 2014: Virginia, 2013: Eastern Kentucky, 2012: Virginia, 2011: NC State

WEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Portland	32-1 (7-1)	West Coast	1
2	Oregon	9-0 (7-0)	Pac-12	2
3	Boise State	26-2 (4-1)	Mountain West	3
4	Stanford	12-8 (2-4)	Pac-12	4
5	UCLA	23-6 (3-3)	Pac-12	7
6	Washington	7-3 (7-2)	Pac-12	6
7	Washington State	25-9 (8-2)	Pac-12	5
8	California	26-8 (8-2)	Pac-12	8
9	San Francisco	17-11 (2-3)	West Coast	9
10	Cal Poly	13-0 (11-0)	Big West	10
11	Arizona State	10-0 (9-0)	Pac-12	11
12	Gonzaga	— (—)	West Coast	12
13	UC Santa Barbara	10-3 (9-2)	Big West	NR
14	San Jose State	5-2 (4-2)	Mountain West	14
15	St. Mary’s (Calif.)	4-3 (3-3)	West Coast	13
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Washington, 2014: Oregon, 2013: Stanford, 2012: Stanford, 2011: Stanford