2021 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings – Week 2

NEW ORLEANS – We’re rocking and rolling in the 2021 cross country season!

Here is the Week 2 edition of the NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country Regional Rankings for the 2021 campaign, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday. There are two new No. 1 teams and a slew of changes after a big weekend.

Remember that Regional Championships Friday is set for November 13!

Great Lakes Region

There was a minor change to the order of the top-5 teams in the Great Lakes Region.

Notre Dame and Butler remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Wisconsin, but Indiana and Purdue leapfrogged Michigan State, making them No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. The Boilermakers and the Hoosiers went head-to-head at the John McNichols Invitational this past weekend with the former earning a 36-55 victory over the latter and Eastern Illinois.

Mid-Atlantic Region

There was a minor change to the order of the top-5 teams in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Villanova and Georgetown remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Princeton, but Navy continues to sail forward, leapfrogging Penn into the No. 4 spot (The Quakers are now fifth). The Midshipmen won the team title at the Virginia Invitational this past weekend, putting all five scoring athletes in the top-13, including four in the top-7.

Midwest Region

There were a few minor changes to the order of the top-5 teams in the Midwest Region.

Oklahoma State and Tulsa remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Iowa State, but Illinois and Wichita State now occupy the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, respectively. The Illini rolled to the team title at the Redbird Invitational behind Jonathan Davis’ individual crown and three other athletes in the top-10. The Shockers captured the team title at the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational with 56 points and beat region-mates Iowa and Nebraska head-to-head.

Mountain Region

There were no changes to the order of the top-5 teams in the Mountain Region.

Northern Arizona and BYU remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by No. 3 Colorado, No. 4 Utah State and No. 5 Weber State. The Lumberjacks and the Buffs squared off this past weekend at the Cowboy Jamboree: NAU picked up the team title; CU ended up third, behind host Oklahoma State. The Aggies posted a close victory at the Montana State Classic.

Northeast Region

There were no changes to the order of the top-5 teams in the Northeast Region.

Iona and Syracuse remain No. 1 and No. 2., respectively, followed by No. 3 Harvard, No. 4 UMass Lowell and No. 5 Providence. Both the Gaels and the River Hawks competed this past weekend, albeit sparingly, with the former using just one runner at the Brother Paddy Doyle Meet of Champions (who won the individual title) and the latter dominating the UMass Dartmouth Invitational by a 63-point margin.

South Region

There were some big changes to the order of the top-5 teams in the South Region.

Alabama is the new No. 1 after winning the team title over a number of region-mates at the North Alabama Showcase, which served as a preview of the Regional Championships course. The Crimson Tide took down now No. 7 Lipscomb, now No. 2 Ole Miss and now No. 10 South Alabama, among others. Florida State held steady at No. 3 behind the Rebels after a good showing at its FSU XC Open, followed again by No. 4 Middle Tennessee and No. 5 Tennessee.

South Central Region

There were a few changes to the order of the top-5 teams in the South Central Region.

Arkansas and Texas remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, but new No. 3 Rice, new No. 4 LSU and new No. 5 Texas A&M all jumped Arkansas State. Two of those top-5 teams competed this past weekend: the Longhorns placed fourth at the Cowboy Jamboree; the Tigers took top honors at the LSU Invitational.

Southeast Region

There was a minor change to the order of the top-5 teams in the Southeast Region.

Wake Forest and Furman remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by new No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Duke and No. 5 NC State. The Tar Heels won the team title at the adidas XC Challenge and beat three of the top-5 teams in the region in the process (The Wolfpack took runner-up honors, while the Demon Deacons finished third and the Blue Devils were fourth). 

West Region

There was a major change to the order of the top-5 teams in the West Region.

Stanford leapfrogged Oregon into the No. 1 spot following a dominant effort at the Florida State Open. The Cardinal put four runners in the top-10 and won by 29 points. Look for the Ducks to fully open the season this weekend at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, but without the services of Cole Hocker, who turned pro last week. Washington, Portland and Gonzaga held steady at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.