2025 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Preseason

NEW ORLEANS – Cross country is back!

Here is the 2025 preseason edition of the NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday. USTFCCCA polls and rankings are presented by AthleticNET.

NCAA Division I — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
Iowa State
New Mexico
Oklahoma State
BYU
Wisconsin
1
Iowa State
2
New Mexico
3
Oklahoma State
4
BYU
5
Wisconsin
Cross Country Polls & Rankings

Iowa State is projected to win its first national title since 1994. How long ago was 1994? Well, 31 years ago, “The Sign” by Ace of Bass topped the Billboard Year-End Hot 100, Forrest Gump and The Lion King were two of the year’s biggest movies, and Sony debuted the PlayStation. Expectations are justifiably high for the Cyclones, who received seven of 11 possible first-place votes from the electorate and top the poll for the first time since at least 2007. Iowa State returns six of seven athletes from a team that finished a close runner-up to BYU last year in Madison, Wisconsin. The Cyclones also add or add back several athletes, namely Rodgers Kiplimo, who was an All-American on the grass circuit back in 2023 for them and most recently finished fourth in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships this past spring.

New Mexico caught the eye of the electorate, too, and enters the 2025 season ranked second for its highest ranking in program history. The Lobos return 2024 individual runner-up Habtom Samuel, as well as fellow All-American Collins Kiprotich, among others. Samuel hit another level on the track in 2025, lowering his PRs to 13:04.92 for 5k and 26:51.06 for 10k. New Mexico also has five other returners at its disposal who clocked 5k marks at 13:40 or faster in 2025.

2023 national champion Oklahoma State sits third to begin the season after collecting the lone remaining first-place vote. The Cowboys, who finished a disappointing eighth last year, return five athletes from that squad, including top-15 finishers Brian Musau (fifth) and Denis Kipngetich (11th). Both Musau and Kipngetich continued to prove their mettle on the track, as Musau swept the NCAA 5k titles and Kipngetich improved his PRs to 13:30.95 for 5k and 27:20.10 for 10k.

Defending national champion BYU starts the season three spots lower than where it finished in 2024. The Cougars, who come in ranked fourth, only return two athletes from that championship squad – James Corrigan and Davin Thompson. Both Corrigan and Thompson were All-America performers at some point in their careers (2023 for Corrigan; 2022 for Thompson), and Corrigan most recently won the NCAA steeplechase title, running a PR 8:16.41 in the process. BYU adds several standouts, namely Stanford’s Thomas Boyden and prep standout Tayvon Kitchen.

Wisconsin is ranked fifth ahead of the 2025 campaign, tying its best preseason billing since 2015. The Badgers, who were fourth on their home course last November, were hit hard by graduation, losing Rowen Ellenberg, Bob Liking, and Adam Spencer. However, Wisconsin returns two athletes who finished among the top-60 athletes last year – Micah Wilson (53rd) and Matan Ivri (58th) – and saw a big jump from several athletes during the track season, namely Johnny Livingstone who went 13:36.18 for 5k and 28:24.77 for 10k.

Stanford and Virginia enter the season tied for sixth, while Notre Dame, Oregon, and Wake Forest round out the top ten. The Cavaliers have never been ranked this high in any edition of the National Coaches’ Poll, according to our data which goes back to 2005.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 22, because that’s when the 2025 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be held at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.

Athletic.net
Presenting sponsor of USTFCCCA Polls and Rankings

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I
Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll

2025 Preseason - August 26th

RANK TEAM & INFOPTS2024
FINAL
1 iowa-state IOWA STATE
Midwest Region (1)
Big 12
Jeremy Sudbury (5th)
326
(7 fpv)
2
2 new-mexico NEW MEXICO
Mountain Region (1)
Mountain West
Darren Gauson (3rd)
316
(3 fpv)
9
3 oklahoma-state OKLAHOMA STATE
Midwest Region (2)
Big 12
Dave Smith (20th)
313
(1 fpv)
8
4 byu BYU
Mountain Region (2)
Big 12
Ed Eyestone (26th)
292 1
5 wisconsin WISCONSIN
Great Lakes Region (1)
Big Ten
Mick Byrne (18th)
270 4
6 virginia VIRGINIA
Southeast Region (1)
ACC
Vin Lananna (7th)
253 21
6 stanford STANFORD
West Region (1)
ACC
Ricardo Santos (5th)
253 12
8 notre-dame NOTRE DAME
Great Lakes Region (2)
ACC
Chris Neal (2nd)
249 10
9 oregon OREGON
West Region (2)
Big Ten
Jerry Schumacher (4th)
239 14
10 wake-forest WAKE FOREST
Southeast Region (2)
ACC
John Hayes (10th)
232 7
11 alabama ALABAMA
South Region (1)
SEC
Dan Waters (15th)
219 18
12 syracuse SYRACUSE
Northeast Region (1)
ACC
Brien Bell (8th)
217 11
13 colorado COLORADO
Mountain Region (3)
Big 12
Sean Carlson (2nd)
179 19
14 northern-arizona NORTHERN ARIZONA
Mountain Region (4)
Big Sky
Jarred Cornfield (1st)
171 5
15 butler BUTLER
Great Lakes Region (3)
Big East
Matt Roe (19th)
169 20
15 california-baptist CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
West Region (3)
WAC
Sean Smith (2nd)
169 13
17 eastern-kentucky EASTERN KENTUCKY
Southeast Region (3)
ASUN
Cory Erdmann (8th)
143 29
18 north-carolina NORTH CAROLINA
Southeast Region (4)
ACC
Chris Miltenberg (7th)
133 6
19 princeton PRINCETON
Mid-Atlantic Region (1)
Ivy League
Jason Vigilante (14th)
123 24
20 arkansas ARKANSAS
South Central Region (1)
SEC
Chris Bucknam (18th)
115 3
21 washington WASHINGTON
West Region (4)
Big Ten
Andy Powell (8th)
113 16
22 washington-state WASHINGTON STATE
West Region (5)
WCC
Wayne Phipps (12th)
101 ---
23 air-force AIR FORCE
Mountain Region (5)
Mountain West
Ryan Cole (12th)
66 ---
24 harvard HARVARD
Northeast Region (2)
Ivy League
Alex Gibby (9th)
63 27
25 tulane TULANE
South Central Region (2)
American
Adrian Myers (5th)
56 28
26 tulsa TULSA
Midwest Region (3)
American
Taylor Gulley (3rd)
54 31
27 ole-miss OLE MISS
South Region (2)
SEC
Adam Smith (4th)
50 25
28 georgetown GEORGETOWN
Mid-Atlantic Region (2)
Big East
Brandon Bonsey (10th)
39 23
29 oklahoma OKLAHOMA
Midwest Region (4)
SEC
Jay Weaver (2nd)
37 ---
30 furman FURMAN
Southeast Region (5)
SoCon
Robert Gary (14th)
35 17
30 michigan-state MICHIGAN STATE
Great Lakes Region (4)
Big Ten
Aaron Simoneau (5th)
35 ---

Also Receiving Votes: Villanova 25, Tennessee 16, Michigan 15, Missouri 8, Gonzaga 6, Portland 2, Virginia Tech 2, Wyoming 2, Boise State 1, Georgia 1



Week-by-Week Ranking

TeamPreseasonWeek #1Week #2Week #3
Iowa State1111
Oklahoma State3322
New Mexico2233
Virginia6644
Colorado131355
BYU4466
Wisconsin5577
Alabama111188
Notre Dame8899
Wake Forest1091010
Syracuse12121111
Butler15151312
Northern Arizona14141413
Oregon9101214
California Baptist15161515
Michigan State30271716
Tulane25231817
Stanford672118
MissouriRV2019
Princeton19202220
Washington State22182321
Arkansas20211922
Air Force23242523
Ole Miss27252724
Georgetown28302824
Eastern Kentucky17172626
Tulsa26293027
Harvard24252928
Boise StateRVRVRV29
Loyola-Chicago30
North Carolina181916RV
Oklahoma29RVRVRV
MichiganRVRVRVRV
VillanovaRVRVRVRV
WyomingRVRVRV
Middle TennesseeRV
Utah StateRV
MinnesotaRV
LouisvilleRV
Washington212224
Furman3028RV
LipscombRV
Virginia TechRVRV
GonzagaRVRV
PortlandRVRV
GeorgiaRVRV
TennesseeRVRV
Weber StateRV
IonaRV
CharlotteRV

USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Cross Country

2025 Rankings & Polls Calendar
Weeks Regional RankingsNational Coaches' Poll KEY DATES
PreseasonMon 8/25
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 8/26
MEN | WOMEN
Week 1Mon 9/15
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 9/16
MEN | WOMEN
Week 2Mon 9/29
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 9/30
MEN | WOMEN
Week 3Mon 10/6
MEN | WOMEN
Tue 10/7
MEN | WOMEN
Week 4Mon 10/20
Tue 10/21
Week 5Mon 11/3
Tue 11/4
Week 6Mon 11/17
Tue 11/18
FINAL Results
(official final ranking)
Sat 11/22
Sun 11/23