USTFCCCA releases new objective cross country ranking system - XCRI - is it any good?

USTFCCCA is a scam

Looking at this is for sure biased to teams that have raced on faster courses, If you look at divisions and head to head matchups, there are multiple teams way behind teams they have beat head to head, but the worse team is rewarded for another race on a faster course. Great example being in D2, Colorado Mines won the pre nats meet but is then ranked 7th behind Adams (3rd) who they beat. Or on the women's side, Chico beat Stanislaus State when they raced at Lewis Crossover, but they still have Stanislaus ahead of teams they lost to. The hard thing about ranking in XC is the differences in courses and you can not do an index based on just the times a team has run. LACCTiC is the only index rankings that even attempts to get this right. And also, the system for at large bids to make nationals is all based on head to head wins/losses, not how fast a team is on a track. So, rankings like this are virtually pointless.

The USTFCCCA is often mistaken for an official governing body, but it’s actually a private membership organization with no NCAA authority. It functions like a pay-to-play trade group, charging schools and coaches for inclusion in its rankings, awards, and events. Programs that don’t pay are often left out, even when athletes meet the criteria. Despite its branding, the USTFCCCA has no regulatory power or oversight, it’s a self-promotional organization that profits from the appearance of legitimacy rather than serving as a true governing body for the sport. AKA a scam, yes!

A lot of coaches agree the USTFCCCA is basically a money-making scam. Many skip the annual meeting because it feels pointless, you pay high fees and get almost nothing in return. It’s not an official NCAA group, just a private club that pretends to have authority while collecting dues and handing out its own awards. The whole thing makes no sense and has turned into a way to make money, not help the sport.

The king of scams is Sam Seems. Big time D Bag.

Looks like a worse knock off of LACCTiC

I haven’t been there the last three years, but from what I hear, attendance keeps dropping and it’s starting to feel like a ghost town. What was supposed to be a place for collaboration and progress has turned into another money making event with little real value for coaches.

Most of the time I go the website, it won't load any of the data. It worked a couple of times but usually I get nothing.

The other problem is that when you filter the team rankings by region or conference, it doesn't rescore them with only those athletes. It just ranks the teams based on where they are ranked in the overall scoring with all teams. It should rescore them based on only the athletes in the region or conference.

My first look has to be NO., as my alma mater the #2 is ranked higher then #1. The #2 beat the #1 at Louisville where the #1 faded in the heat, but #1 has been 20+ seconds better in all their other races. It over compensates for the big meets and doesn't look at the whole season.

Also, they have 3 categories but ranking is based on 2. What is the 3rd about? Seems like the analytics people are over doing it again. and don't really understand the sport.

Thoughtful post about what's wrong with coaches association.

Unfortunately for you, it does serve several functions for the ncaa like providing the xc and track polls, voting for the Bowerman and now...

...the new tool to rank teams and individuals.

Tool can be improved, but most importantly they have meanwhile at least put something out there.

USTFCCCA is honestly the biggest joke

You appear to just have something against it. Other college sports coaches have similar organizations; Drs, lawyers, accts, teachers, administrators, mechanics too.

No one is ever happy with them, and they are as exciting as Dunder Mifflin, but they fulfill a necessary role.

Perhaps you could join and get on the board, or a committee.