Here Is Your Projected 2018 NCAA Women’s Cross Country Field

By LetsRun.com
November 9, 2018

The 2018 NCAA women’s cross country championship field is set. While it won’t officially be announced by the NCAA until tomorrow, we’ve run Bo Waggoner’s computer program and are confident the following 31 teams will be competing at NCAAs in Madison, Wisconsin a week from Saturday.

Teams selected 
   1 Michigan
   2 Wisconsin
   3 Villanova
   4 Princeton
   5 Iowa St
   6 Oklahoma St
   7 New Mexico
   8 Colorado
   9 Columbia
  10 Dartmouth
  11 Florida St
  12 Florida
  13 Arkansas
  14 Texas
  15 NC State
  16 Furman
  17 Oregon
  18 Boise St
  19 Michigan St
  20 Penn St
  21 BYU
  22 Notre Dame
  23 Indiana
  24 Stanford
  25 Washington
  26 Portland
  27 Southern Utah
  28 Oregon St
  29 Minnesota
  30 Ole Miss
  31 Georgia Tech
(The top 18 teams are auto qualifiers. At-large rationale is described in detail here.
If there was a mistake, Bo Waggoner writes that UCLA would take the spot of Souther Utah).

Now, let us make a few points of analysis.

Props to Oregon State and Southern Utah for Making NCAAs for The First Time Ever

Souther Utah won its first Big Sky title 2 weeks ago Souther Utah won its first Big Sky title 2 weeks ago

We sure the Beavers and Thunderbirds are thrilled to have made it to the show for the first time ever. Here is a look at the qualifying streak of every team to make the 2018 NCAA meet:

Stanford – 26 years in a row – last didn’t make the meet in 1992.
Michigan St – 18 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2000.
Michigan – 17 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2001.
Oregon – 12 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2006.
Washington – 12 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2006.
New Mexico – 11 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2007.
Colorado – 10 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2008.
Iowa St – 10 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2008.
Arkansas – 8 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2010.
NC State – 5 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2013.
BYU – 4 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2014.
Oklahoma State – 4 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2014.
Penn State – 4 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2014.
Villanova – 4 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2014.
Ole Miss – 3 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2015.
Wisconsin – 3 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2015.
Boise State – 2 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2016.
Dartmouth – 2 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2016.
Columbia – 2 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2016.
Furman – 2 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2016.
Indiana – 2 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2016.
Minnesota – 2 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2016.
Texas – 2 years – last didn’t make the meet in 2016.
Princeton – 1 year (1st appearance since 2015)
Florida – 1 year (1st appearance since 2012)
Florida State – 1 year (1st appearance since 2014)
Notre Dame – 1 year (1st appearance since 2016)
Portland – 1 year (2nd NCAA appearance ever, 1st since 2016)
Southern Utah – 1 year (1st NCAA appearance)
Oregon State – 1 year (1st NCAA appearance)
Georgia Tech – 1 year – (1st appearance since 2001)

23 of 31 Teams Are Back From Last Year

Astute observers of the list above will realize eight teams made NCAAs this year that didn’t make it last year. That means 74.2% of teams (23/31) are returning to NCAAs from last year — the highest amount in the last 5 years.

Returning NCAA Teams 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Men TBD 77.4% (24/31) 64.5% (20/31) 71.0% (22/31) 71.0% (22/31)
Women 74.2% (23/31) 58.1% (18/31) 61.3 (19/31) 58.1% (18/31) 67.8% (21/31)


3 Ranked Teams Didn’t Make It To NCAAs

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In terms of surprises at the regional meets, there really weren’t any massive shockers. The only ranked teams that didn’t make it to NCAAs were #25 Syracuse, #28 NAU, and #29 Georgia, and the unranked teams that got into the field of 31 were all receiving votes in the final regular season poll — Princeton and Florida State (tied for #32 in the votes) and Texas (#34 in votes).

In terms of upsets, it’s more interesting to look at the pre-season national poll to see what teams really disappointed.

Eight nationally ranked teams in the pre-season didn’t make it to NCAAs, including four in the top 20:
#10 Utah State, #11 Providence, #19 Georgia, #20 Cal, #22 Syracuse, #25 Georgetown, #29 Ohio State, and #30 San Francisco.

Providence’s 6-Year NCAA Streak is Snapped

Providence, which began the year ranked #11, had the longest NCAA streak snapped. They had made the NCAAs six years in a row.

The 8 Teams That Made NCAAs Last Year But Not This Year
Providence – Had made it 6 years in a row. 16th last year.
San Francisco – 3 years. 2nd last year.
Eastern Michigan – 2 years. 27th last year.
Syracuse – 2 years – 26th last year.
Utah State – 2 years – 14th last year.
California – 1 year – 22nd last year.
Eastern Kentucky – 1 year – 23rd last year.
Georgia – 1 year – 17th last year.

San Francisco Goes From the Podium to Out of The Meet Entirely

Last year, the Dons finished 2nd at NCAAs — the best finish in program history. But after the season, head coach Helen Lehman-Winters left to take the job at Oregon, and San Francisco’s top two returners from NCAAs last year — Weronika Pyzik and Isabelle Brauer — followed her to Eugene. Add in the loss of 2017 NCAA 10k champ Charlotte Taylor (3rd at NCAA XC last year) and it was always going to be tough for the Dons to return to the meet, let alone the podium. Today they were only 10th in the West Regional.


What do you think? Post your comments in on our world famous fan forum / messageboard. MB: Official 2018 NCAA D1 XC Regional Discussion Thread – Who Is Going To The Big Dance? 

Men’s Article:  LRC Here Is Your Projected 2018 NCAA Men’s Cross Country Field The Bradley Braves are dancing for the first time ever. The field will also include Purdue and Wyoming, both of whom last made NCAAs in 1986, but not pre-season #6 Alabama.

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