DI Regional Rankings Change Significantly as National Top-10 Teams Drop

How will today’s new Regional Rankings affect the Week Four National Coaches’ Polls? Find out in a LIVE podcast unveiling of the polls Tuesday at noon ET on USTFCCCA.org.

NEW ORLEANS – A series of hotly-contested meets across the country filled with upsets and surprising performances put the cap on the opening two weekends of the core of the NCAA Division I cross country regular season.

And they shook up Monday’s Regional Rankings accordingly.

Regional Rankings Summary PDF | Division I XC Rankings Central
Quick Links: Men’s Rankings | Women’s Rankings

Join Us Every Tuesday at Noon EDT For The National Coaches’ Poll Unveiling

Four top-10 teams in last week’s National Coaches’ Polls fell from the top spots in their respective regions in the rankings announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

These changes will undoubtedly shake up the week four National Coaches’ Poll, which will be revealed via live broadcast at noon ET on USTFCCCA.org.

The men’s rankings were the most significantly shuffled, as a trio of national top-10 teams tumbled from their regions’ top spots. No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Wisconsin, and No. 7 Villanova all dropped to the second spots in their respective regions, for varying reasons.

The No. 4 Stanford women also fell.

With two weekends of “countable” action now in the books, in-season results are starting to take on more significance in determining the rankings over on-paper potential. Such was partially the downfall of Stanford and Wisconsin, combined with strong showings by regional rivals in their same races.

Stanford was bested at the Washington Invitational and consequently overtaken in the West Region by national No. 5 Oregon. Both teams were running without a number of their top athletes, including Sean McGorty, Jim Rosa, and Grant Fisher for Stanford – the latter two of whom still have health and redshirt questions, respectively, surrounding them.

Stanford’s women also dropped from atop the women’s West rankings, as national No. 5 Oregon and national No. 15 Washington overtook the national No. 4 Cardinal after head-to-head victories at the Washington Invitational. The Cardinal got the individual win from Aisling Cuffe in her competitive return, but ran without Elise Cranny. However, Oregon ran well enough that, even with Cranny, Stanford likely may not have emerged victorious.

The West overall was a hotbed of movement, with 14 of its 15 ranked men’s teams and nine of 15 women’s squads in a different spot from a week ago.

Wisconsin treated the Greater Louisville Classic as a course preview for the NCAA Championships – held on the same EP “Tom” Sawyer Park course on November 21 – and tempoed to a seventh-place overall finish as Great Lakes Region/Big Ten foe national No. 10 Michigan finished runner-up behind individual winner Mason Ferlic.

As a result, the Wolverines moved ahead of the Badgers, for now. The two will meet again at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational in two weeks’ time, as well as Big Tens, Great Lakes Regionals and, presumably, the NCAA Championships.

Also making big gains in the Great Lakes were three-spot gainers No. 4 Indiana and No. 5 Purdue.

Villanova, on the other hand, suffered a head-to-head loss to its regional usurper, national No. 14 Georgetown, at the Paul Short Run as both teams were seemingly running at close to full capacity. The Wildcats, who lost despite a 1-2-4 finish from Patrick Tiernan, Jordy Williamsz and Rob Denault, consequently dropped behind the Hoyas in the Mid-Atlantic rankings.

Two new men’s teams moved into the top two in their respective regions – an important spot as only two teams from each region automatically advance to the NCAA Championships. NC State impressed with a runner-up finish at Notre Dame to move to second in the Southeast Region, while idle Oklahoma took over Iowa State’s spot at No. 2 in the Midwest. The Cyclones dropped to No. 3.

While the team to which NC State finished runner-up – UTEP – didn’t move into the top two of the always-deep Mountain Region, the Miners did move up four spots to No. 3 in the region past a trio of nationally ranked teams in Colorado State, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. The region’s former No. 3, New Mexico, dropped five spots after a disappointing Notre Dame showing.

Moving up into the third spots in their respective women’s regions were Princeton in the Mid-Atlantic and North Carolina in the Southeast. Princeton won its home Inter-Regional Meet to jump up two spots in the rankings, while a short-handed UNC squad was runner-up.

Also from the Mid-Atlantic, national No. 13 West Virginia fell two spots to No. 5.

Many new teams joined the Regional Rankings this week, with 10 new women’s squads and nine fresh men’s teams among their regions’ top 15.Virginia Tech’s women made the biggest impression by going from unranked to No. 6 in the Southeast, while both the Eastern Washington women (West Region) and Campbell men (Southeast) debuted at No. 8.

Also new to the men’s rankings were: Miami (Ohio) and Youngstown State [Great Lakes], Nebraska and Southern Illinois [Midwest], Belmont [South], Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State [South Central], and Clemson [Southeast].

Joining the women’s rankings were: Ohio [Great Lakes], UMBC [Mid-Atlantic], Northwestern [Midwest], Buffalo [Northeast], Tennessee, Southern Miss and Jacksonville [South], and Louisville [Southeast].

NCAA Division I Regional Championships will be held around the country on Friday, November 13 with the national meet occurring eight days later in Louisville, Kentucky.

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.