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What D1 programs have the potential to be great due to academics, recruiting base, training locations, etc. but aren't? Cornell jumps out for me. Ivy league but not as academically intense as their peers plus certain majors have the perk of the state-school tuition, Ithaca has great access to trails, New York and the northeast is a strong area to recruit from. Haven't made NCAA's since 1992.
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In XC? Notre Dame.
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Theres too many to name. However it needs saying, that many of these head coaches should have replaced long ago in order to turn it around. In our sport the coaches have molded the sport to be an invitational sport nearly 99 percent of the schedule, and they hide from dual meets because they don't want a tangible win/loss record. Becauuse that would expose failure. If track and field were like football many of these people would be removed after not winning anything for their first 5 years. I see coaches who have been at d1 universities for 20 yrs and havent won much at all. There's no accountability in success vs failure. Therefore plenty of programs will remain not great, but they could be great if a new guy had a shot at leading the team.
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Colorado
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Rutgers
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See the user name. There is no way this school shouldn't be great. I know from personal experience.
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Notre Dame, Duke, UNC, Texas, UCLA, Cal come to mind
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Athletes/fans of every decent size D1 school think this. There are a million excuses for why “we’re still building up now, but in a few years we’ll be at the top of the conference and make nationals every year”. Well, no you won’t. It’s just a fact that some schools have to be mid-pack. Some have to be at the bottom. It’s really hard to move from one category to another. Look at a power 5 conference like the Big Ten. On the men’s side, a bunch of teams shuffle around from 4-8th place at the conference meet, year after year. All of these teams think they can become consistent top teams, but they can’t and won’t. Math doesn’t allow it.
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Va Tech for the win!
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Wwerto wrote:
Athletes/fans of every decent size D1 school think this. There are a million excuses for why “we’re still building up now, but in a few years we’ll be at the top of the conference and make nationals every year”. Well, no you won’t. It’s just a fact that some schools have to be mid-pack. Some have to be at the bottom. It’s really hard to move from one category to another. Look at a power 5 conference like the Big Ten. On the men’s side, a bunch of teams shuffle around from 4-8th place at the conference meet, year after year. All of these teams think they can become consistent top teams, but they can’t and won’t. Math doesn’t allow it.
You're not wrong but that's not exactly what I'm asking. What programs have the potential to be great based on the school's ability to attract and develop talent? Not every power 5 team is an academic or running destination.
Duke is a good one. Only argument against it would be Durham and cost. UNC should be a top 10 program. National brand, great high school running scene to recruit from + in-state tuition, good academics, well-funded. -
BC doesn't even have an outdoor track on campus...
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Central Connecticut state
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Ohio State.
Truly sad to see how bad it is there. -
Washington on the men’s side. Cal Poly SLO.
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Kansas State
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How about Kansas
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chargeoff wrote:
Wwerto wrote:
Athletes/fans of every decent size D1 school think this. There are a million excuses for why “we’re still building up now, but in a few years we’ll be at the top of the conference and make nationals every year”. Well, no you won’t. It’s just a fact that some schools have to be mid-pack. Some have to be at the bottom. It’s really hard to move from one category to another. Look at a power 5 conference like the Big Ten. On the men’s side, a bunch of teams shuffle around from 4-8th place at the conference meet, year after year. All of these teams think they can become consistent top teams, but they can’t and won’t. Math doesn’t allow it.
You're not wrong but that's not exactly what I'm asking. What programs have the potential to be great based on the school's ability to attract and develop talent? Not every power 5 team is an academic or running destination.
Duke is a good one. Only argument against it would be Durham and cost. UNC should be a top 10 program. National brand, great high school running scene to recruit from + in-state tuition, good academics, well-funded.
Durham is a better running and college town than all but about 9 D1 schools. Don't @ me -
don’t know how they could be any good with a mid distance runner turned motivational speaker running their Xc program.
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Darthvadar wrote:
don’t know how they could be any good with a mid distance runner turned motivational speaker running their Xc program.
This is very true. My son was interested in Ohio State as a school and program until he started reading the motivational stuff online and decided that it was either incredible or scary, and he just didn’t want to take a chance that it is the latter. -
As of late, Oregon. Without Ches, they've really taken a nosedive.
