Introducing: April Anarchy

In case you didn't hear, the sports world (and pretty much everything else) has come to a standstill. Stadiums are empty, competitions have been postponed (or outright cancelled) and sports fans are yearning for some form of entertainment that involves athletics.

As a result, media outlets have been forced to go into their archives, reflect on some of the greatest moments in sports and (of course) host a handful of brackets in an effort to determine which team, fanbase, athlete, food (or pretty much anything you can think of) is the best.

At The Stride Report, we pride ourselves in being different and thinking outside the box.

Today is not one of those days.

Based on the traditional bracket of March Madness, we are introducing to you our own twist - April Anarchy. Later this week, The Stride Report will reveal a men's bracket and a women's bracket of the greatest collegiate distance runners of the past two decades (i.e. the entirety of the 2000s). You, our readers, will be the ones who vote during each round.

You probably have a lot of questions, so here's how this will work...

There will be two brackets, a men's bracket and a women's bracket. Each bracket will hold 64 of the best collegiate distance runners since the year 2000. This includes athletes that specialize in the 800 meters or longer (which includes the steeplechase and cross country).

Starting later this week, we will begin publishing articles which preview the matchups in each region (Blue, Green, Red, Yellow). Each day, we will post a poll on our Instagram story (thestridereport) which will last for 24 hours. The athletes who earns the most votes will move on to the next round where they will face another athlete. This will continue until one athlete is left standing.

Voting will begin later this week (likely Wednesday).

During the Round of 64 and the Round of 32, each region will likely have their own day to vote on the matchups. That is because there will be so many articles to write and so many polls to post. However, once we get closer to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8, we'll begin publishing more regions altogether which will allow for things to go by faster.

Here is our tentative order of the matchups...

Round of 64

- Blue Region (Women)

- Blue Region (Men)

- Red Region (Women)

- Red Region (Men)

- Green Region (Women)

- Green Region (Men)

- Yellow Region (Women)

- Yellow Region (Men)

Round of 32

- Blue Region (Women)

- Blue Region (Men)

- Red Region (Women)

- Red Region (Men)

- Green Region (Women)

- Green Region (Men)

- Yellow Region (Women)

- Yellow Region (Men)

Sweet 16

- Blue Region (Women)

- Blue Region (Men)

- Red Region (Women)

- Red Region (Men)

- Green Region (Women)

- Green Region (Men)

- Yellow Region (Women)

- Yellow Region (Men)

Elite 8

- Blue Region (Women)

- Blue Region (Men)

- Red Region (Women)

- Red Region (Men)

- Green Region (Women)

- Green Region (Men)

- Yellow Region (Women)

- Yellow Region (Men)

Final Four

- Matchup A (Women)

- Matchup A (Men)

- Matchup B (Women)

- Matchup B (Men)

Finals

- Women

- Men

Tomorrow.

The Stride Report staff came together and assembled a list of the top collegiate distance runners since the year 2000. There was endless debate about where certain names should be placed and how much of a certain criteria should impact an athlete's seed. It was a long, exhaustive process.

Here is some of that criteria...

National Titles

Winning matters. Fast times and records are always exciting and impressive, but national titles last forever. Most records do not. After all, what's the point of being an elite runner if winning isn't the ultimate goal?

It should be noted that just because someone has a national title does not mean that they will automatically be placed into our bracket.

National Titles: Cross Country vs Track

In our mind, cross country national titles are more valuable than national titles on the track. This is simply because every distance runner competes in cross country rather than one of many events.

Between indoor and outdoor track, there are seven different distances that an individual can compete in (800, Mile, 1500, 3k, 5k, 10k, steeplechase). Having so many options somewhat dilutes the value of a national title on the track relative to a national title in cross country.

Personal Bests + Consistency

Simply put, you've got to be fast.

Although having a national title greatly helps your overall seed, there are a few instances where athletes without national titles snuck into our bracket. This is because they had a handful of very impressive times as well as numerous strong performances at national meets.

Consistency is also a key aspect of our seeding criteria. Some athletes have had mild success throughout their college years and then suddenly burst onto the scene in their final senior seasons. Those are great stories, but from a career perspective, they may not have a strong enough resume to earn a spot in our bracket.

D2 + D3 Athletes

Yes, we have included D2 and D3 athletes in our bracket! These athletes may not necessarily have the times that some of their D1 counterparts do, but their incredible success within their divisions deserves to be recognized.

A majority of the bracket is still full of Division One runners, but there are still plenty of the best D2 and D3 distance athletes scattered throughout the Round of 64 for both the men and the women.

National Relevance / Impact

How memorable was the athlete? Did the athlete have a magical performance? Did the athlete force their competitors to race a certain way? Did the athlete have a major role in a legendary race? How often do we look back on an athlete's performance and remember a certain race of theirs?

An athlete's impact on the rest of the NCAA is sometimes an overlooked aspect when we review history. Popularity and name recognition truthfully do have a (limited) impact in our overall seeding. However, we have made strong attempts to avoid recency bias.

Subjective Analysis

The seeding will never be perfect. It was never going to be. Some really impressive talents are going to be left off of our brackets. Unfortunately, that's just how the cookie crumbles. Some people may get upset at our seeding. We get it. Just realize that there isn't a right answer for most of the seeding in this bracket.

Plus, if you disagree with a seed, you can always rally voting support around your guy or gal.

No. The Stride Report focused on the achievements an athlete made during their time in college. Performances as a high school or professional athlete did not have any influence on our seeding.

There were some all-time great runners who ran in the late 1990's who also had their eligibility spill over to the first few years of the new century (2000, 2001, 2002). We are generally looking at performances done within the new century, although we aren't going to ignore national titles or all-time great performances that someone had in the late 1990's.

No. Voting will only be available on our Instagram story.