USTFCCCA News & Notes
By USTFCCCA Communications, USTFCCCA October 28, 2025   

Stacked Races Await NCAA DI Conference Championships

Welcome to Conference Championships Weekend.

Is everybody used to Colorado, BYU, Utah, etc., being in the Big 12?

What about Oregon and Washington in the Big Ten?

Stanford in the ACC? Oklahoma and Texas in the SEC?

Conference realignment doesn’t make too much sense these days, but it sure does make for some good cross country. Take a gander at all of the ranked teams competing between the ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12 Championships on Friday.

ACC Cross Country Championships
Date: Friday, October 31 | Location: Louisville, Ky. | Course: E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park
Race Times: Women’s 6k – 9:30 am ET | Men’s 8k – 10:30 am ET
Men’s Teams   Women’s Teams
No. 4 Virginia   No. 2 NC State
No. 6 Syracuse   No. 5 Notre Dame
No. 12 Wake Forest   No. 13 Stanford
No. 16 Notre Dame   No. 15 Virginia
No. 23 North Carolina   No. 28 Wake Forest
No. 27 Stanford   No. 30 Boston College
No. 27 Virginia Tech    

Drama is on deck in Louisville, Kentucky.

No. 12 Wake Forest aims to accomplish what no men’s team has done since Notre Dame in 2020 and 2021: repeat as champion. The Demon Deacons will have their work cut out for themselves as No. 4 Virginia and No. 6 Syracuse have been running well. Meanwhile, No. 2 NC State looks to prove last year was an outlier when it finished fifth after winning eight consecutive titles from 2016 to 2023. No. 5 Notre Dame put the Wolfpack’s run to an end last year.

Big 12 Cross Country Championships
Date: Friday, October 31 | Location: Lawrence, Kan. | Course: Rim Rock Farm
Race Times: Men’s 8k – 10 am CT | Women’s 6k – 11 am CT
Men’s Teams   Women’s Teams
No. 1 Iowa State   No. 1 BYU
No. 2 Oklahoma State   No. 6 Iowa State
No. 5 Colorado   No. 7 West Virginia
No. 8 BYU   No. 11 Oklahoma State
    No. 16 Colorado
    No. 18 Utah

Top-ten matchups galore in Lawrence, Kansas.

No. 1 Iowa State versus No. 2 Oklahoma State highlights the men’s race, but No. 5 Colorado and No. 8 BYU will keep things interesting. Then in the women’s race, No. 1 BYU hopes to continue to prove it belongs at the top of the National Coaches’ Poll against No. 6 Iowa State and No. 7 West Virginia.

Big Ten Cross Country Championships
Date: Friday, October 31 | Location: East Lansing, Mich. | Course: Forest Akers East Golf Course
Race Times: Men’s 8k – 10:35 am ET | Women’s 6k – 11:35 am ET
Men’s Teams   Women’s Teams
No. 10 Oregon   No. 4 Oregon
No. 13 Michigan State   No. 8 Northwestern
No. 15 Wisconsin   No. 12 Penn State
No. 25 Michigan   No. 19 Wisconsin
    No. 20 Washington
    No. 24 Michigan State

It’s the bluebloods versus the upstarts in East Lansing, Michigan.

Both the Men and Women of Oregon are the top-ranked teams in the Big Ten, but will be tested by Michigan State and Northwestern, respectively. The Spartans climbed from No. 30 in the preseason to No. 13 in the most recent National Coaches’ Poll, while the Wildcats went from unranked in the preseason to No. 8, a truly meteoric rise.

SEC Cross Country Championships
Date: Friday, October 31 | Location: Knoxville, Tenn. | Course: Cherokee Farm Cross Country Course
Race Times: Men’s 8k – 9:08 am CT | Women’s 6k – 9:53 am ET
Men’s Teams   Women’s Teams
No. 8 Alabama   No. 3 Florida
No. 20 Georgia   No. 20 South Carolina
No. 22 Missouri   No. 23 Missouri
No. 26 Ole Miss   No. 25 Alabama
No. 29 Oklahoma   No. 27 Tennessee
     

The SEC Championships return to Tennessee for the first time since 2012.

On paper it looks cut and dry with Alabama and Florida being the clear favorites on the men’s and women’s side, respectively. But we know that races are contested on the grass circuit, not on paper. Teams like No. 20 and No. 22 Missouri have impressed on the men’s side and No. 20 South Carolina and No. 23 Missouri have risen for the women. And even though they’re not ranked, the Arkansas men and women always come to run, having won 51 combined conference titles.