Division-I XC Rankings

Med. redshirt wrote:

Looks like OSU is a definite #1 on paper - looking forward to seeing how they put it together...but of course, XC cannot be well-predicted.

Hahahh they started out with the same talk last season, same team as now and they finished up 8th!! Now they are going to get 1st again????? Hahahaa They will be lucky to get 8th place again!!!! Smith can take a great runner and make him an also ran. Look at Kosgei and the others. He even tried to get German to NOT LEAD in the NCAA 1500!!!! OSU needs FIVE guys all ignoring Smith in Cross Country, which is not going to happen. 1st place yeah right!!! HaHHHhahahaha!!!!

I would be pretty surprised if Oregon pulled it off this year. They've only got one proven cross country stud in Puskedra, after that there are no top ten threats. Acosta, Klotz, and one of the Mercados should finish top 30, I don't know how much more you can ask. However, both Mercado brothers and Klotz have been to that level, but have never really improved from it, and didn't show on the track they are any better than that. Acosta is a question, while I feel he should be in the top 30, he's underperformed expectations for most of his career. I feel like Centro is a big question mark, 3:36 is a monster 1500, but he has yet to show that it translates to cross. He could be top 15, but he could also be 40th or 50th.

So, best case scenario (in my mind) is

5 Puskedra

15 Centro

29 #3 man

30 #4 man

31 #5 man

This is certainly very, very good, I'm just not sure it's enough to win this year when both Stanford and Ok St could put three in the top ten.

The caveat on this is that I will admit I don't know that the recruiting class looks like this year, Vin regularly has freshman finish top 20. Also, Vin is good at getting guys to really step up when it counts.

Other thoughts and opinions are certainly welcome, I just find it odd that they seem to be the overwhelming letsrun favorite, especially considering how much we seem to love hating them.

Minnesota has Mead and two other very solid guys (Torchia, Blankenship). I wouldn't count them out of being a Top 15 team quite yet.

First Place Yeah Right wrote:

Med. redshirt wrote:

Looks like OSU is a definite #1 on paper - looking forward to seeing how they put it together...but of course, XC cannot be well-predicted.

Hahahh they started out with the same talk last season, same team as now and they finished up 8th!! Now they are going to get 1st again????? Hahahaa They will be lucky to get 8th place again!!!! Smith can take a great runner and make him an also ran. Look at Kosgei and the others. He even tried to get German to NOT LEAD in the NCAA 1500!!!! OSU needs FIVE guys all ignoring Smith in Cross Country, which is not going to happen. 1st place yeah right!!! HaHHHhahahaha!!!!

You do understand that their number one runner did not finish the race, right?

alot of ppl are forgetting arkansas, they are gonna be top eight at nats

hdfd wrote:

You do understand that their number one runner did not finish the race, right?

Exactly! And he was way behind at 1/2 way!!!

First place????? HaHHHhahahahaHHHHhaaa!!!!!!!

I'm not sure why everyone thinks Stanford will be so good this year. They have a stud - and a lot resting on him - and two very good wingmen who could be AA. Then... questions. Not bad questions, they are all good runners and could contribute significantly, but I can't see Stanford above 4th place right now. They're going to have to prove it.

Dammit to hell. Indiana State should be ranked Number One. Who cares about the rest (especially IU!).

Pretty sure that my post was simply stating facts - with 4 returning XC All-America's, I can't think of another team who ON PAPER is ahead of them. However, no, you can't really tell how things we'll play out, thus I made mention of cross country always being a surprise.

I agree that they may need to learn to race a bit more towards the front, but if you don't think NCAA's can be won (or a podium finish) from behind, check out the team from Boulder over the last decade...Stanford circa 2000 was the only team I've seen ever completely dominate from the front the entire race. They were otherworldly.

First Place Yeah Right wrote:

hdfd wrote:

You do understand that their number one runner did not finish the race, right?

Exactly! And he was way behind at 1/2 way!!!

First place????? HaHHHhahahahaHHHHhaaa!!!!!!!

I thought that there was some age limit for posting here. Don't you have to be at least 12 years old?

wisco for top two.who does indiana state have???

1. OK State

2. Wisconsin

3. Stanford

4. Oregon

Oregon won't medal

Iona should get more respect based on past finishes and strong recruiting. This is a school that dropped football to put more money into their successful programs like cross country which is keeping them on the map, especially since the basketball program seems to have imploded.

Med. redshirt wrote:

Pretty sure that my post was simply stating facts - with 4 returning XC All-America's, I can't think of another team who ON PAPER is ahead of them. However, no, you can't really tell how things we'll play out, thus I made mention of cross country always being a surprise.

I agree that they may need to learn to race a bit more towards the front, but if you don't think NCAA's can be won (or a podium finish) from behind, check out the team from Boulder over the last decade...Stanford circa 2000 was the only team I've seen ever completely dominate from the front the entire race. They were otherworldly.

OSU had great runners going into the season a year ago, and ended up getting smashed, which reflects directly on Dave Smith. All season he was building up the fantasy for them to get first and when it came to the finals, the physical preparation was not there, and none of them had a clue of how to race in the finals.

It is not a matter of racing from the front or the back, though both Vail and Fernandez plus the rest of the team were history by 1/2 way. It's a matter of running smart and competitive with the rest of the field. Compared to all other teams, OSU ran stupidly in the finals BUT it was the same way that they had been running ALL SEASON, so in that aspect, not surprising that they failed.

The best predictor of how OSU will do this November is how they ran last November.

NAU FTW

The best predictor of how OSU will do this November is how they ran last November.

Except if you look at Stanford, Wisco, Colorado - they have all had years where they used the same race tactics and it worked one year and didn't the next.

OSU had great runners going into the season a year ago, and ended up getting smashed, which reflects directly on Dave Smith. All season he was building up the fantasy for them to get first and when it came to the finals, the physical preparation was not there, and none of them had a clue of how to race in the finals.

It is not a matter of racing from the front or the back, though both Vail and Fernandez plus the rest of the team were history by 1/2 way. It's a matter of running smart and competitive with the rest of the field. Compared to all other teams, OSU ran stupidly in the finals BUT it was the same way that they had been running ALL SEASON, so in that aspect, not surprising that they failed.

The best predictor of how OSU will do this November is how they ran last November.

Is he talking about the same coach that coached german to a championship 1500 gold in ncaa's this year as a freshman?!? Don't talk about tactics and running smart, every team has a bad day.

1. Virginia

2. Bard College

3. Wellesley

4. Colorado

5. Duke

6. University of Phoenix

7. Stanford

8. Oklahoma State

9. Cornell

10. Georgetown

11. Oxford

12. Toyota

13. FSU

14. AT&T

15. Minnesota

16. Mall of America

17. LSU

18. FDA

19. Duke

20. Duke

you heard it here first yall

Except if you look at Stanford, Wisco, Colorado - they have all had years where they used the same race tactics and it worked one year and didn't the next.

Getting 8th when favored for 1st has never worked very well.

Is he talking about the same coach that coached german to a championship 1500 gold in ncaa's this year as a freshman?!?

Pay attention. Dave Smith tried to convince German to not lead the race! German ignored him, ran his own race and he won.