2017 NCAA DI Cross Country Men’s Region Rankings – Preseason
NEW ORLEANS – We’re two weeks into the 2017 season in NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country and there have already been a few shakeups in the Regional Rankings.
There is a new No. 1 team in the South Region and another team moved into prime position in the Great Lakes Region with a few months to go until the postseason.
REGIONAL RANKINGS – SUMMARY PDF
REGIONAL RANKINGS – All-Time Week By Week
For those who don’t know or need a refresher, the 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 team finishing order at the NCAA Regional Championships.
This year the NCAA Division I Regional Championships will be held on Friday, November 10.
Great Lakes Region
Wisconsin is still No. 1 here, but Indiana jumped three spots from No. 5 to No. 3.
The Hoosiers leapfrogged Eastern Michigan, Michigan State and Michigan after a dominant performance at its season-opening invitational. Indiana rolled to a 21-50 victory over Minnesota and other teams at the IU Open as it put four runners in the top-5 (No. 1 through No. 4).
Mid-Atlantic Region
Nothing changed here as Georgetown, Navy, Princeton, Penn and Penn State make up the top-5.
Midwest Region
The top-5 remained intact as No. 1 Oklahoma State is followed by No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Illinois, No. 4 Tulsa and No. 5 Minnesota.
Mountain Region
Defending national champion Northern Arizona is still No. 1, followed by No. 2 Colorado, No. 3 BYU, No. 4 Southern Utah and No. 5 Colorado State.
Northeast Region
The biggest change in this region came in at No. 5, where Cornell jumped five spots from No. 10. Syracuse, Iona, Columbia and Providence are still in order in front of the Big Red.
South Region
Middle Tennessee State is the new No. 1 in this region as it bounced Ole Miss from the top spot. Don’t worry too much about the Rebels – they’re No. 2.
Alabama moved up from No. 4 to No. 3, Florida State jumped from No. 5 to No. 4 and Georgia Tech is now No. 5 after being No. 7 in the preseason.
South Central Region
Arkansas leads the way here and is followed by No. 2 Texas, No. 3 UT Arlington, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 5 Baylor.
Southeast Region
Furman, Virginia, Virginia Tech and NC State all take up spots No. 1 through No. 4. Eastern Kentucky jumped from No. 6 to No. 5.
West Region
The top-5 remains the same with Stanford, Oregon, Washington State, Portland and UCLA in those respective spots. There should be some changes when we get into the heart of the season.