10/22 NCAA Polls are out: Mark Wetmore' CU Buffs, James Li Arizona Wildcats are #1

The coaches poll really makes me wonder sometimes. They just seem to overreact to recent events, almost completely disregarding the results from previous races and previous seasons. Just because Colorado beat an incomplete Oregon squad does not put them ahead of a stacked OSU, who seemed to get punished for resting their guys on "the biggest xc weekend of the year." You would think that these coaches might recognize that good teams don't need to race their best in mid-October. Or they might show some restraint after watching a great race by Harvard's two big guns, who went 2-5 at regionals last fall and still weren't even close to pulling their team to the big dance.

I agree 100%. Lots of clueless coaches contributing to the poll!

Everyone looking at the Wisco results and not realizing it is an obviously short course. Abby D is good, but 50 sec negative split good over 6k...I don't think so. Add 30 sec to the Wisco times and them compare to Pre-Nats results and you'll get an accurate National picture.

Former coach wrote:

I agree 100%. Lots of clueless coaches contributing to the poll!

Looking at the huge swings up and down in each poll shows how little the regional reps know. Just look at each poll and the current ranks on the left compared to the previous week on the right. This far into the season should not see this many huge jumps.

Each regional rep should know their own region enough to help educate the other reps and lead to a more accurate (and less volatile) national poll.

Is the poll supposed to be a prediction of how the teams will finish at NCAAs? Or is it a ranking of team's performances to date? Two different philosophies, both with their own merits, that are likely to yield different results.

(Of course, if there is a stated purpose to the poll... disregard this comment)

If Ross Millington comes back for the Lobos, does anybody else think they could win nationals? With him, this has the chance to be the best Lobo team of all time.

How the heck did Arizona get to be #1 for the women.

They're still way off on Stanford.

#29 last week was just ridiculous, and #13 this week is still way too low.

They're top 10 right now, and if they can get just one of Rosa, Graham, or Stutzman into form in the next month (which I think is a pretty good shot), they're gonna be a whole lot better than they were Saturday.

(If they managed to get TWO of those guys into good form, they might actually contend for the title.

It's not inconceivable.)

I bet they wish the Arizona women wish they redshirted Bergman her freshman year. She was only 17 and they didn't really do anything that year.