2023 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 6
NEW ORLEANS – All roads lead to Panorama Farms.
Here is the newest edition of the NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll for the 2023 season, as released on Monday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Regional Championships Friday left its mark on the national index as teams and individuals qualified for the rapidly approaching NCAA Championships.
NCAA Division I — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Northern Arizona
Northern Arizona
2
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
3
BYU
BYU
4
North Carolina
North Carolina
5
Texas
Texas
5
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
One point.
That’s all that separates top-ranked Northern Arizona from second-ranked Oklahoma State. The Lumberjacks, who rolled to the team title at the Mountain Region Championships, hauled in six first-place votes from the electorate. The Cowboys, who romped to their own crown at the Midwest Region Championships, earned five chart-toppers. Any non-first-place vote for each squad was a second-place vote as the voting coaches see this as a two-team race in Virginia. NAU and Oklahoma State have yet to face each other this season, but come into Saturday’s race with sterling accolades. If the Lumberjacks win the team title this weekend, it will be their seventh in the past eight years. The Cowboys seek their first NCAA reign since 2012.
BYU, the last team not named NAU to win a national title since 2016, held strong at No. 3 after a runner-up effort at the Mountain Region Championships. The Cougars haven’t budged from the No. 3 spot all season long and hope to shake up the standings in the Old Dominion. BYU has made the podium in four of the past six years, never finishing worse than third when it does.
Southeast Region champion North Carolina and South Central Region champion Texas firmly entrenched themselves among the nation’s elite. The fourth-ranked Tar Heels, who put four in the top-10 this past weekend and achieve their best ranking in program history, hope to earn NCAA hardware for the first time (UNC’s best finish is fifth in 1985). The fifth-ranked Longhorns, who are tied for that position with Great Lakes champion Wisconsin, own their best rank since 2012 when they were also fifth. Texas hasn’t made the NCAA podium since the launch of the Hubble Telescope.
Three regional champions made their presence known in the National Coaches’ Poll: Great Lakes champion Butler went from No. 12 to an all-time program high No. 8; West champion Stanford improved one spot to No. 9; Mid-Atlantic champion Princeton flew six spots from No. 16 to No. 10 for its best rank entering the NCAA Championships since 2011. The Tigers are looking to crack the top-10 at the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.
The rest of the top-30 saw some major changes with 18 teams moving multiple spots in either direction: 11 going upward; seven downward. No. 18 Eastern Kentucky, No. 19 Iona and No. 20 Gonzaga and No. 24 Portland all drastically enhanced their billing with their efforts at their respective regional championships this past weekend.
Get ready for the 2023 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships, which will take place THIS SATURDAY at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia. Remember that you can catch all of the action without interruption beginning at 9:30 am ET on ESPNU.
