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
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Wisconsin	30-10 (7-0)	Big Ten (1)	1
2	Michigan State	50-22 (8-4)	Big Ten (2)	4
3	Indiana	50-6 (15-3)	Big Ten (3)	5
4	Eastern Michigan	37-28 (13-2)	Mid-American (1)	3
5	Michigan	69-11 (13-3)	Big Ten (5)	2
6	Purdue	40-37 (11-9)	Big Ten (7)	7
7	Ohio State	54-23 (15-7)	Big Ten (8)	6
8	Butler	46-24 (7-5)	Big East (3)	8
9	IUPUI	38-29 (13-7)	Summit League (2)	9
10	Dayton	39-29 (12-8)	Atlantic 10 (1)	10
11	Miami (Ohio)	30-7 (17-7)	Mid-American (2)	12
12	Ohio	31-9 (15-6)	Mid-American (4)	11
13	Cincinnati	27-6 (9-4)	American (3)	13
14	Youngstown State	23-44 (11-10)	Horizon (1)	NR
15	Indiana State	22-50 (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
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Georgetown	49-14 (14-0)	Big East (1)	1
2	Penn	41-21 (11-2)	Ivy (1)	2
3	Navy	53-14 (18-2)	Patriot (1)	3
4	Princeton	23-28 (5-3)	Ivy (2)	4
5	Villanova	21-17 (2-4)	Big East (4)	6
6	Penn State	24-34 (8-2)	Big Ten (9)	5
7	Duquesne	37-12 (6-2)	Atlantic 10 (2)	12
8	Saint Joseph’s	37-30 (18-11)	Atlantic 10 (5)	10
9	La Salle	37-19 (18-5)	Atlantic 10 (6)	7
10	Pittsburgh	21-35 (3-3)	ACC (9)	8
11	Rutgers	24-21 (14-5)	Big Ten (11)	9
12	Lehigh	23-56 (13-6)	Patriot (4)	11
13	Bucknell	21-28 (7-9)	Patriot (5)	13
14	Temple	17-25 (8-7)	American (5)	15
15	George Washington	22-37 (12-14)	Atlantic 10 (10)	14
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Georgetown, 2014: Villanova, 2013: Villanova, 2012: Georgetown, 2011: Georgetown

MIDWEST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Oklahoma State	27-0 (7-0)	Big 12 (1)	1
2	Iowa State	56-9 (15-1)	Big 12 (2)	2
3	Tulsa	29-13 (5-2)	American (1)	3
4	Bradley	60-18 (17-2)	Missouri Valley (1)	4
5	Minnesota	36-32 (12-3)	Big Ten (4)	5
6	South Dakota State	30-34 (11-6)	Summit League (1)	6
7	Illinois	49-45 (10-7)	Big Ten (6)	7
8	Missouri	63-23 (8-2)	SEC (6)	8
9	Kansas	25-24 (6-5)	Big 12 (4)	10
10	Oklahoma	38-36 (8-10)	Big 12 (6)	9
11	Wichita State	34-32 (10-7)	Missouri Valley (2)	11
12	Saint Louis	41-3 (16-1)	Atlantic 10 (3)	12
13	Nebraska	19-58 (5-9)	Big Ten (10)	13
14	Iowa	28-58 (13-13)	Big Ten (12)	14
15	Eastern Illinois	46-14 (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
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Northern Arizona	43-0 (9-0)	Big Sky (1)	1
2	BYU	49-2 (3-1)	West Coast (1)	2
3	Colorado	45-2 (6-0)	Pac-12 (1)	3
4	UTEP	66-6 (8-1)	Conference USA (1)	5
5	Colorado State	52-17 (8-2)	Mountain West (2)	4
6	Southern Utah	68-24 (10-6)	Big Sky (2)	6
7	Air Force	57-16 (8-5)	Mountain West (3)	7
8	Utah State	36-17 (10-6)	Mountain West (4)	8
9	Texas Tech	28-10 (2-0)	Big 12 (5)	9
10	New Mexico	5-26 (1-7)	Mountain West (5)	10
11	Wyoming	38-42 (6-12)	Mountain West (6)	11
12	Weber State	22-20 (10-6)	Big Sky (3)	12
13	Idaho State	13-33 (6-9)	Big Sky (5)	13
14	Montana State	25-13 (5-8)	Big Sky (6)	NR
15	Utah Valley	36-32 (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
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Syracuse	57-4 (6-0)	ACC (1)	1
2	Iona	61-4 (19-1)	Metro Atlantic (1)	2
3	Providence	50-23 (12-3)	Big East (2)	3
4	Columbia	38-31 (17-5)	Ivy (3)	4
5	Dartmouth	68-33 (35-11)	Ivy (4)	5
6	Yale	33-40 (17-15)	Ivy (5)	7
7	Cornell	39-37 (10-8)	Ivy (6)	6
8	Northeastern	32-31 (20-10)	Colonial (2)	9
9	Buffalo	23-28 (4-7)	Mid-American (3)	11
10	Brown	30-11 (29-9)	Ivy (7)	10
11	Army West Point	32-10 (14-4)	Patriot (2)	8
12	Stony Brook	36-15 (12-9)	America East (1)	14
13	Maine	31-7 (29-7)	America East (2)	13
14	Albany	23-20 (13-12)	America East (3)	NR
15	Boston University	23-8 (18-7)	Patriot (3)	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	47-2 (8-0)	SEC (2)	1
2	Middle Tennessee	51-2 (19-0)	Conference USA (2)	2
3	Florida State	34-38 (8-1)	ACC (5)	3
4	Georgia	68-12 (30-2)	SEC (4)	4
5	Alabama	31-26 (15-8)	SEC (5)	5
6	Florida	46-39 (13-4)	SEC (8)	6
7	Samford	38-9 (17-1)	Southern (2)	7
8	North Florida	23-1 (21-1)	Atlantic Sun (1)	14
9	Tennessee	44-29 (24-13)	SEC (9)	10
10	Auburn	50-27 (26-11)	SEC (10)	8
11	Georgia Tech	39-30 (18-5)	ACC (8)	9
12	Belmont	41-32 (19-12)	Ohio Valley (2)	11
13	Lipscomb	40-28 (16-15)	Atlantic Sun (2)	13
14	Florida Gulf Coast	24-5 (18-5)	Atlantic Sun (3)	15
15	ETSU	35-20 (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
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Arkansas	64-1 (11-0)	SEC (1)	1
2	Texas	28-18 (5-0)	Big 12 (3)	2
3	Texas A&M	33-49 (17-4)	SEC (7)	3
4	Lamar	40-3 (20-1)	Southland (1)	6
5	UT Arlington	33-22 (10-3)	Sun Belt (1)	5
6	Stephen F. Austin	16-4 (15-1)	Southland (2)	7
7	Baylor	8-24 (2-3)	Big 12 (7)	4
8	McNeese State	30-10 (17-4)	Southland (3)	10
9	Louisiana-Lafayette	25-9 (16-3)	Sun Belt (2)	12
10	North Texas	18-46 (10-2)	Conference USA (4)	11
11	Texas State	10-6 (5-3)	Sun Belt (3)	9
12	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	18-8 (17-7)	Southland (4)	8
13	Sam Houston State	14-14 (14-12)	Southland (5)	NR
14	Tulane	14-19 (1-0)	American (2)	NR
15	Rice	22-13 (6-2)	Conference USA (5)	13
Regional Championship History — Last Five Champions: 2015: Arkansas, 2014: Arkansas, 2013: Arkansas, 2012: Texas, 2011: Texas

SOUTHEAST Region
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Virginia	36-5 (16-0)	ACC (2)	1
2	NC State	32-35 (9-2)	ACC (3)	6
3	Virginia Tech	48-6 (16-3)	ACC (4)	2
4	Kentucky	48-5 (1-1)	SEC (3)	3
5	Furman	56-23 (11-0)	Southern (1)	4
6	William and Mary	21-11 (8-4)	Colonial (1)	8
7	Eastern Kentucky	39-27 (6-1)	Ohio Valley (1)	5
8	Campbell	37-30 (16-8)	Big South (1)	9
9	Charlotte	21-16 (4-6)	Conference USA (3)	10
10	North Carolina	12-55 (4-7)	ACC (6)	NR
11	Louisville	58-34 (12-6)	ACC (7)	7
12	Liberty	39-14 (16-7)	Big South (2)	NR
13	George Mason	33-3 (22-0)	Atlantic 10 (4)	12
14	Appalachian State	27-15 (19-6)	Sun Belt (4)	NR
15	Davidson	46-27 (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
Rank	School	Overall (RAOR)	Conference	Last Week
1	Stanford	47-10 (14-4)	Pac-12 (2)	1
2	UCLA	53-12 (13-4)	Pac-12 (3)	3
3	Oregon	51-3 (16-2)	Pac-12 (4)	2
4	Portland	63-8 (18-3)	West Coast (2)	4
5	Washington State	47-18 (11-6)	Pac-12 (5)	5
6	Boise State	48-16 (7-5)	Mountain West (1)	6
7	California	49-21 (6-7)	Pac-12 (6)	9
8	Washington	22-24 (8-12)	Pac-12 (7)	7
9	San Francisco	53-21 (12-5)	West Coast (3)	8
10	Cal Poly	47-11 (20-3)	Big West (1)	10
11	Gonzaga	18-31 (7-6)	West Coast (4)	11
12	UC Santa Barbara	29-5 (24-4)	Big West (2)	14
13	Arizona State	17-38 (9-11)	Pac-12 (8)	12
14	San Jose State	20-8 (15-3)	Mountain West (7)	13
15	St. 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