2024 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 3
NEW ORLEANS – Now we’re talking!
Here is the newest edition of the 2024 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). What happened at the Joe Piane Invitational and the Loyola Lakefront Invitational shook up the national rankings between Week 2 and Week 3.
National Coaches’ Polls are presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division I — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
1
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
2
BYU
BYU
3
Arkansas
Arkansas
4
Iowa State
Iowa State
5
Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Oklahoma State, BYU and Arkansas still comprise the top-3 teams in Week 3. None of those squads raced this past weekend, so the electorate saw no reason to shift anything around. The Cowboys are still the consensus favorite to win back-to-back titles come November with their ten first-place votes, while the Cougars – and their one first-place vote – are the biggest challenger, according to the electorate.
Iowa State improved one spot to No. 4 thanks to Notre Dame’s impressive victory at the Joe Piane Invitational this past weekend. Let us explain: Northern Arizona had been ranked fourth entering the meet, but the Irish upended the Lumberjacks with a masterclass in pack running (Notre Dame had a meager 7.2-second spread). The electorate saw no reason to punish the Cyclones, especially after their big result at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational two weeks ago, so they went to fourth with the Irish right behind them in fifth, while NAU dropped into a sixth-place tie with Wake Forest.
Wisconsin finally debuted its ‘A’ team – and it delivered. The Badgers, who jumped eight spots from No. 18 to No. 10, ganged up to overcome a 1-2-3 finish by Alabama at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational and hand the Crimson Tide a 69-73 loss. Wisconsin sent four of its athletes across the finish line within one second of each other in 14-15-16-17 after Bob Liking led the Badgers in seventh place with a 22:59.1 PR over 8k (Liking jump-started a successful junior year with a victory at this meet last year. He later won individual titles at both the Big Ten and Great Lakes Region Championships).
California Baptist went from No. 29 to No. 24 thanks to a strong showing at the Joe Piane Invitational. The Lancers were third behind Notre Dame and NAU. Valentin Soca and Zouhair Redouane, both underclassmen, led CBU in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 23, because that’s when the 2024 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be held at the Thomas Zimmer Championships Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin.
