NCAA DI Regional Previews: South, South Central, Southeast

NEW ORLEANS — Are you ready to see months of hard work pay off?

It’s Regional Championship Weekend and we’ll see what teams and individuals earn automatic bids to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, which are set for November 19 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

QUICK LINKS: Regional Championship Central | Latest Regional Rankings | Latest National Rankings

By the end of the day tomorrow, we’ll see 36 teams punch their ticket to NCAAs and scores of individuals as well. After the dust settles, we’ll get an idea of what teams earned at-large bids as well.

Allow us to break down three major storylines in each region. We’ll group three regions in each post, based on location.

SOUTH

Host: Florida State
Location: Tallahassee, Florida
Women – 8:30 a.m. ET; Men – 9:30 a.m. ET

TIMING SITE

WOMEN

Projected Auto Bids: Mississippi, Mississippi State

Friday could be historic for Ole Miss. In the 34 years that the NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country Championship has been contested, the Rebels never made the meet as a team qualifier. That could all change if the regional rankings hold true. Ole Miss enters the meet ranked atop the region and beat all of its top challengers two weeks ago at the SEC Championships, where the Rebels took second behind Arkansas. This has turned out to be a dream season for Ole Miss, as the team went from receiving votes in the preseason to No. 14 in the most recent poll.

The race for the second spot out of the South Region is wide open as Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Alabama and Florida have all looked good at some point this season. Based on recent results at the SEC Championships, where all four of those teams competed, the Bulldogs are the favorite to finish behind Ole Miss — which is evident in the pre-meet rankings (Ole Miss is 1st, Mississippi State is 2nd). The Bulldogs only had one runner in the top-20 at SECs, but grouped up well (20-25-27-31-35).

Vanderbilt has moved up the regional rankings, from No. 6 in Week 5 to No. 3 in Week 6. Can the Commodores keep it up and make their way back to NCAAs for the sixth consecutive season?

MEN

Projected Auto Bids: Mississippi, Middle Tennessee State

This region has only advanced its two automatic berths to NCAAs in the past two seasons, meaning this race is more cutthroat than most around the nation this year. No. 11 Ole Miss will very likely win or at least claim one of those two berths, leaving one open spot.

No. 26 Middle Tennessee is the leader in the clubhouse for that spot, though the Blue Raiders are unproven at this level from several aspects. First, this would be their first NCAA DI appearance in program history. Second, MTSU has looked impressive at 8K this season, most notably in a relatively close Conference-USA runner-up finish to No. 15 UTEP, but how will it fare in the longer 10K regional race?

On the other hand, third-ranked Florida State is on the wrong side of the bubble, but has the experience to burst it. FSU has advanced to NCAAs in 12 of the past 13 years and are coming off a strong fifth-place finish in a very deep ACC Conference.

SOUTH CENTRAL

Host: Arkansas
Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Women – 11 a.m. CT; Men – Noon CT

TIMING SITE

WOMEN

Projected Auto Bids: Arkansas, SMU

If we’ve learned anything from the South Central in the past it’s that anything can happen after Arkansas punches its automatic bid. The Texas Longhorns shocked the region last year when they finished 2nd behind the Razorbacks and earned their 14th NCAA bid in program history. What’s going to happen this year?

If the rankings hold, second-ranked SMU is in line for its first trip to NCAAs since 2013. The Mustangs recently captured the American Athletic Conference championship and placed 2nd at the Virginia Panorama Farms Invitational earlier this season. What was more of a puzzling result was a 17th-place finish at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. It seems as if the Mustangs shook whatever plagued them in Madison, so it could be smooth sailing ahead for the team from the Metroplex.

Was Baylor’s performance at the Big 12 Championships an aberration? We’re about to find out. After strong outings at both the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational and the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, the Bears slogged to 5th place in Lubbock, Texas. Just two weeks prior, Baylor had four runners across the line in Madison before any other team — and that included Washington, NC State and Providence. Based off at-large points, the Bears have what it takes for a bid, but they don’t want to rely on that.

MEN

Projected Auto Bids: Arkansas, Texas

Only two teams have qualified to NCAAs from the South Central Region in recent years, and with Arkansas in the running, that number of available bids might as well be just one. The Razorbacks have made it to NCAAs in 41 of the past 42 years. Anything can happen, though, as was proven in 2011 as the Razorbacks missed NCAAs after finishing third as a top-15 team for the entire regular season.

The two teams that beat Arkansas? They’re the same teams vying to get the other auto bid (or the upset) in Texas and Texas A&M. The Longhorns were third in the Big 12 Championships, while A&M was seventh in the SEC. Earlier this season, only nine points separated the two at the Notre Dame Joe Piane Invitational in 13th and 14th, respectively.

SOUTHEAST

Host: Virginia
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Women – 11 a.m. ET; Men – Noon ET

TIMING SITE

WOMEN

Projected Auto Bids: NC State, William & Mary

NC State is the class of the Southeast Region this year. That much has been evident from the start of the season. It’s time that we see just how dominant the Wolfpack can be with NCAAs right around the corner. NC State won the ACC title with a scoring lineup that saw Rachel Koon lead the way in 4th and Erika Kemp come across as the team’s 8th finisher in 26th. That says a lot of good things about the Wolfpack’s depth, but now is the time for them to pull it together and run roughshod over the region. If NC State routs the field, it would go a long way to their confidence to podium in Terre Haute, Indiana.

William & Mary, the 2nd-ranked team in the region, is looking to get back on track after missing NCAAs in 2015. The Tribe did have an individual qualifier in Regan Rome, but had a three-year streak snapped (2012, 2013, 2014) when they didn’t finish in the top-2 of the region last year. Rome is surely going to be among the leaders come Friday, so the only question that remains is if her teammates will back her up to give her some friendly faces during the NCAA meet eight days later.

If Eastern Kentucky can shock both William & Mary and Kentucky, the two teams ahead of it in the rankings, it will do something it hasn’t done in program history — reach the NCAA meet as a team. The Colonels come into the meet fresh off a dominant victory at the OVC Championships and placed five in the top-10 there, led by Charlotte Imer (2nd).

MEN

Projected Auto Bids: Virginia, NC State

Last year’s regional was pretty wild with Louisville claiming the upset win and six teams qualifying to NCAAs – all of whom finished within 100 points of one another. The field qualifying from the Southeast will likely be closer to 2014’s four-team delegation with only two teams in the top 30 (No. 16 Virginia and No. 27 NC State) and two others receiving votes (Virginia Tech and Kentucky).

At fourth in the region and very much on the bubble, Kentucky will be looking for its first NCAA Championships berth since 2003. The Wildcats’ previous berth had been 1992. This year’s iteration of Kentucky was third at the SEC Championships.

There’s a great deal of uncertainty based on the ebbs and flows of the regional rankings this year which teams might advance, even automatically. Prior to ACCs, second-ranked NC State was sixth in the region, while current seventh-ranked Eastern Kentucky started the year as a national top-10 program. In total, seven different teams have been ranked fifth or better in the region this year: Virginia, NC State, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Furman, Campbell and Louisville.