I think really this is just a result the bigger issue is coaches don't see the point at all of early season meets. Look at the Iona meet of champs. Iona ran their B team. Arkansas didn't run all of their guys and Columbia won.
After I saw that, I was trying to think of a way where we could make it so that early season results matter in our sport. But no one can really come up with a system that makes the regular season matter in any aspect of our sport - whether it's track or xc.
That's why I laugh when people complain that the regionals in track aren't fan friendly or good for spectators. My reply on that is, "No it's not. But it makes the national meet better. Nothing matters but the championship."
I'd love for someone to come up with a system where regular season results matter, particularly in xc. At Cornell, we tried to emphasize the meets by scoring our track meets but teams would show up, get housed and not care.
The fact is coaches are blowing everything off until October. The NCAA tried to address this by moving up the date that meets actually count.
As a fan, I think I'd rather a team not show up than run a B team but I'm not sure. Regardless, Weldon is mistaken, Harvard didn't run their B team. They just have lost a lot to graduation, transfers, etc. Weldon barely pays attention ot the college scene and started the thread after he got a text from a Yale alum stating it was the B team.
Rojo