Bumping this thread.
Glad to see LRC's not letting Flotrack have all the fun and has started their top 10 countdown.
My take? The top teams are solid for the Men--Colorado, Stanford and 'Cuse. After that, it's pretty wide open.
I think UVA will surprise people. They're incredibly deep and have a chip on their shoulder from last year. I see them as a podium team.
I also have a feeling that Stanford reverts to the mean and under performs vs their ranking. But on paper, they're unbelievably strong and we all want to see how Fisher performs, especially over 10K. We'll see if Milt's culture change has taken hold.
The fact that Flotrack has Ole Miss at #5 (I think) is crazy. I know they got transfers, but still.
OSU is a big question mark. I expected them to be more aggressive assembling a team in the off season.
UNC overperformed at Nats last year. No way they finish that high this year. In fact, they may not make Nats at all.
NC State has my head spinning with all the transfers in and out. They could be dangerous in November.
I also think Louisville will surprise to the upside this year. If they can make Nats, they could be dangerous too given it's their home course and they have speed.
Only other observation is that Great Lakes and Southeast Regions are incredibly stacked this year whereas Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are going to be weaker than normal.
This weekend is really the first time we're going to see some of the top teams' low sticks. I'm thrilled that pro track is over and we can enjoy XC!