2022 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 4
NEW ORLEANS – One through eight? Not much.
Nine through 30? Now we’re talking.
Here is the newest edition of the NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll for the 2022 season, as released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Remember that this poll is conducted by counting votes from 11 member coaches – one from each of the division’s nine regions (who also do the regional rankings) – as well as two members from the NCAA Cross Country Executive Committee.
NCAA Division I — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
BYU
BYU
2
Stanford
Stanford
3
Northern Arizona
Northern Arizona
4
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
5
Tulsa
Tulsa
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
As mentioned above, the top-8 teams remained the same for the second week in a row: No. 1 BYU is followed by No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Northern Arizona, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Tulsa, No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 7 Wake Forest and No. 8 Colorado. The Cougars hauled in nine first-place votes from the coaches, while the Cardinal nabbed the other two.
North Carolina jumped three spots from No. 13 to No. 10, one spot behind new No. 9 Syracuse. The Tar Heels romped to victory in the Men’s College Gold 8k at the Paul Short Run this past weekend. Parker Wolfe and Patrick Anderson went 1-2 to lead UNC, which scored 64 points at the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course, 36 fewer than runner-up Villanova.
Further down, two teams that starred at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational saw their stocks rise: Notre Dame and Tennessee. The meet champion Irish improved one spot from No. 14 to No. 13, while the Volunteers went from the Land of Receiving Votes to No. 15 after its runner-up finish on the Burke Golf Course. This is Tennessee’s best ranking since at least 1999 when it (Rocky) topped out at No. 21. The Volunteers were ranked No. 5 in Week 7 of the 1990 season.
Four other teams took multiple steps in Week 4: the aforementioned Wildcats went from No. 21 to No. 17 following its runner-up effort at the Paul Short Run; Alabama went from No. 25 to No. 22 after finishing third at the Joe Piane Invitational; Utah State went from the Land of Receiving Votes to No. 23 following a third-place finish at the Paul Short Run; Oregon went from No. 26 to No. 24 in an idle week; and Michigan State went from No. 30 to No. 27.
Mark you calendars for Saturday, November 19, because that’s when the 2022 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be held at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma. You’ll be able to watch both championship races uninterrupted on ESPNU beginning at 10 am ET. The #RunToStillwater is in full gear!
