UPDATED XC Top 25 Teams: Week 9 (11/1)

KEY

(Wasn’t Ranked): Was not ranked the week before.

(#/#):

First number indicates how much the team has moved in the rankings. A plus (with green) means they have improved in the rankings. A minus (with red) means they have regressed in the rankings. Colors may not show on mobile.

The second number indicates where they were ranked the week before.

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25. Washington Huskies (Wasn't Ranked)

The Huskies held their own this past weekend at PAC 12's by placing 5th overall, only five points behind Oregon. Mahmoud Moussa (Ammar Moussa's little brother) was the team's surprise low-stick for the day with his 5th place finish while Andrew Gardner was close behind in 11th. After those two, we saw a considerable gap with Colby Gilbert and freshman Talon Hull placing 27th and 29th while their 5th scorer (Andy Snyder) was back in 47th. This team has enough talent to be a top program in the nation, but they can't be effective if they have these gaps in their top five. Still, they ran well and nearly scared Oregon in the team standings. Because of that, they'll earn a spot in our Top 25.

24. Iona Gaels (-1 / 23)

It was a perfect score for the Gaels at the MAAC Championships. No one is really surprised that they put up 15 points, but seeing low-stick Gilbert Kirui back in the lineup is a huge development for a team that struggled at Wisconsin.

23. Wisconsin Badgers (Wasn't Ranked)

One of the biggest surprises this past weekend was seeing the Badgers rebound from the Wisconsin Invite to place 3rd at BIG 10's. Not only was their team performance surprising, but seeing Oliver Hoare and Joe Hardy taking the top two spots was certainly not expected. Relative to teams like Michigan State and Illinois, their final three scorers weren't all that bad (they finished 20th, 32nd, and 33rd). Much like Michigan State, I'd like see that gap narrow, but when you consider where the Badgers were two weeks ago compared to now, they are certainly moving in the right direction.

22. Utah State Aggies (-3 / 19)

The Aggies struggled against a deep field of top-tier talent at the Mountain West Championships. Despite finishing 4th behind three very solid programs, their team score was slightly concerning (93 points). In fact, New Mexico almost pulled off the upset with a team score of 97 points. As expected, Dillon Maggard was exceptional with a 3rd place while sophomore James Withers held his own for a respectable finish of 16th. However, the rest of Utah State's top seven finished 23rd, 24th, 27th, 28th, and 31st. Those aren't necessarily bad finishes, but pack running like that isn't going to have an impact on a smaller field of just 65 individuals. Sure, their performance may not have been ideal, but if there was a time to have an "off day", conference championships was probably the best time to have it.

21. Boise State Broncos (0 / 21)

The Broncos finished 3rd at the Mountain West Championships behind Colorado State and Air Force. Miler Haller had a great day with a 6th place finish while their middle three scorers finished 11th, 13th, and 14th. Unfortunately, the man that was typically their reliable ace (Yusuke Uchikoshi) was their 5th scorer for the day in 20th. Had he performed like he was expected to, then not only does Boise State beat Air Force, but they come awfully close to a solid Colorado State team. Yet, until I actually begin to see any progress from Uchikoshi, this team will be held outside of the Top 20.

20. Oklahoma State Cowboys (-3 / 17)

It's tough to say that Oklahoma State had a bad race. In the big picture, they actually did quite well at BIG 12's with a team score of 44 points. Unfortunately for them, Iowa State and Texas were just the better teams when you compare the 3rd, 4th and 5th scorers. Hassan Abdi did what was expected of him (he won) while Luiz Martinez had a breakout performance to finish 2nd overall. However, Sylvester Barus needs to be better. The Cowboy Jamboree champion should be placing in the top 10, not 17th.

It's easy for me to sit behind a computer and criticize a team that has done so well for so long. They may not have won the conference title, but their loss did allow many of us to realize just how good they've been over the past decade.

19. Texas Longhorns (+1 / 20)

You really have to feel for Texas. After years of rebuilding, the Longhorns finally have a program capable of pulling off upsets and fighting for championships. They were one point off from grabbing the BIG 12 title, but they can at least say that they contributed to breaking up Oklahoma State's title streak. Sam Worley looks like a true ace after his 3rd place finish while Connor O'Neill and Alex Rogers look like excellent support pieces. Others like John Rice and Charles Mills continued to show that they were consistent and reliable scorers that are only improving as the season goes on. Overall, Texas has a ton of depth and that will likely benefit them as they transition to the 10k distance.

18. Air Force Falcons (0 / 18)

The Air Force men had a strong showing at the Mountain West Championships this past weekend with their runner-up finish to Colorado State. The team score may show the Falcons 28 points behind the Rams, but don't mistake that difference as a poor performance. The Falcons placed three in the top 10 while their bottom two scorers both finished in the top 20. With victories over Utah State and Boise State, Air Force is now in a great position to qualify for the Big Dance. They can thank the consistency of Johnston, Davey, and Bilvado for helping them get to this point.

17. Mississippi Rebels (-2 / 15)

The team scores at SEC's certainly wasn't what I expected. I felt confident that Arkansas would do well, but I at least thought that the Rebels could pull within 20 points of them. Unfortunately for Ole Miss, that was not the case. Instead, Arkansas tallied a score of 41 points to take the title while Alabama barely edged the Rebels for 2nd, 81 to 82. It was a surprising upset for Mississippi who had done so well all season. Tobin held his own by placing 8th while the middle three scorers finished 14th, 15th, and 18th overall. Unfortunately, that 5th scorer proved to be their main weakness as he fell to 27th. When you look at overall season performances, I'm not ready to say that Alabama is the better team. Still, it does make you wonder how Ole Miss will handle another matchup against them at the South Regional Championships.

16. Iowa State Cyclones (+6 / 22)

After a surprisingly poor performance at Wisconsin, the Cyclones entered BIG 12's with a chip on their shoulders. In what was arguably the most exciting meet of the weekend, Iowa State emerged victorious, narrowly defeating Texas by one point and Oklahoma State by three points. Andrew Jordan and Thomas Pollard did what was expected of them by placing 4th and 5th overall, but an incredible race by Dan Curts (who was 6th) is most likely the reason why Iowa State walked away with the win. Of course, others would argue that freshman Milo Greder placing 14th was real the difference maker. Initially, Coach Smith had planned to redshirt his star freshman, but his decision not to earned his program the BIG 12 title.

15. Michigan State Spartans (+1 / 16)

The Michigan State men put up a good fight at BIG 10's. Ruiz and Beadlescomb were huge in this meet as they placed 3rd and 5th overall. Unfortunately, the gap between them and their final three scorers (who placed 19th, 24th, and 31st) was far too great to overcome and it was the main reason why they fell to Michigan.

14. Oregon Ducks (-6 / 8)

13. UCLA Bruins (+1 / 14)

Stanford and Colorado may have gained all of the attention at this meet, but one of the more surprising results was seeing UCLA get the best of Oregon by six points at the PAC 12 Championships. As usual, Brandt gave the Bruins another great finish by placing 6th overall, but the rest of their squad was relatively spread out with finishes of 14th, 23rd, 26th, and 35th.

When we look at the Ducks, we saw a huge performance by freshman Cooper Teare (who placed 8th overall), but the rest of the squad relied on pack running to get the job done by placing 22nd, 24th, 25th, and 31st. It looks like the 2nd scorer is where things really made a difference in the team scoring. It just goes to show how much Matthew Maton means to this squad.

12. Michigan Wolverines (+1 / 13)

There were multiple teams that could've threatened for the BIG 10 title, but Michigan's low-sticks proved to be the deciding factor. The Wolverines put three in the top 15 while their final few scorers kept the team point total in control by placing 18th and 22nd. In fact, Big Blue even had some backup at the 6th and 7th spot with runners placing 23rd and 25th. Overall, nice pack running by the bottom half of Michigan's lineup kept them competitive.

11. Virginia Tech Hokies (0 / 11)

The Hokies had a decent race at ACC's by finishing 2nd overall, but their team score of 73 points doesn't seem to match the performances they've had this season. Expect this squad to rebound with a stronger result at the Southeast Regional Championships in two weeks.

10. Southern Utah Thunderbirds (0 / 10)

The Thunderbirds could only do so much as Northern Arizona used elite front-running to get the win at BIG Sky's. However, I will say that the team score was closer than I expected.

9. Arkansas Razorbacks (+3 / 12)

After a horrendous performance at Pre-Nats, the Razorbacks bounced back with a comfortable team win at SEC's over Alabama and Ole Miss by over 40 points. George and Bruce looked like the low-sticks I thought they would be while Andrew Ronoh's addition to the lineup helped the Razorbacks pull away from the field. There are still a few things this team needs to fix, but this past weekend was a great way to regain momentum.

8. Colorado State Rams (+1 / 9)

In one of the more underrated meets of the weekend, Colorado State scored an outstanding 31 points at the Mountain West Championships thanks to a 1-2 finish by Mock and Rockhold. The Rams put four in the top 10 while their final scorer placed 15th. CSU just trounced a deep Mountain West field like it was nothing. Look out for this team as we enter the later portion of the postseason.

7. Furman Paladins (-1 / 6)

As expected, the Paladins dominated the Southern Conference Championships with a perfect score and a 23:57 average. They actually took eight of the top nine spots. Unfortunately, Colorado's strong performance without Dressel has led me to believe that the Buffs have the edge right now which is why I'm pushing Furman back to 7th.

6. Colorado Buffaloes (+1 / 7)

Colorado put up a tough fight against Stanford, but fell to 2nd by only six points. Joe Klecker had a great day by earning runner-up honors while Ryan Forsyth and Eduardo Herrera both finished in the top 10. Adam Peterman and Zach Perrin rounded out the top five by placing 12th and 16th. Overall, this was a solid performance, but if John Dressel was in this lineup, do the Buffs emerge victorious once again? It wasn't unusual for Wetmore to leave Dressel out of the lineup at Pre-Nats, but in a big postseason meet like PAC 12's, his absence does raise a few concerns.

5. Syracuse Orangemen (0 / 5)

After their performance at Wisconsin, questions began to arise about how reliable Syracuse's 5th scorer was going to be this season. Yet, at ACC's, that skepticism was quickly put to rest. The Orangemen placed five in the top 10 and actually outscored the rest of the ACC field 27 to 28. It's just another lesson that we should never doubt Syracuse.

4. Portland Pilots (0 / 4)

As I mentioned in my analysis of BYU, I'm not looking too heavily into the West Coast Conference Championships. Portland coach Rob Conner said at the Wisconsin Invite that they weren't going to run a full squad and that the Pilots would be focusing on regionals. Sure enough, that seems to be the case.

3. Stanford Cardinal (0 / 3)

After six straight years of Colorado being PAC 12 champions, Stanford emerged victorious after placing three in the top five with Grant Fisher leading the way. Still, there are a lot of cautionary signs that are beginning to develop with this team. Their final two scorers were 15th and 18th in the team scoring, Thomas Ratcliffe has yet to make his season debut, and veterans like Wharton and Keelan haven't been the reliable scorers that I thought they could be. Yet, even with all of these potential issues (emphasis on potential), Stanford still made a statement by defeating Colorado. They've got the depth and talent to be a podium team once again.

2. BYU Cougars (0 / 2)

The biggest storyline of the weekend was BYU throwing down a perfect score at the West Coast Conference Championships to defeat Portland. Putting five men ahead of Portland's top guy is incredibly impressive, but Portland made it clear before the meet that they really weren't putting an emphasis on this meet. In fact, in an interview with Flotrack, Portland coach Rob Conner even predicted that BYU "could score 15 points". Whatever your thoughts were on this meet, I think it's still pretty clear that BYU is legit. The race between them and NAU will be a lot closer than I originally thought...

1. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0 / 1)

No surprise here as the Lumberjack men defended their BIG Sky title placing 1-2-3-8-10 and defeating a talented Southern Utah squad by 12 points.

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ADDED

#25 Washington Huskies

#24 Wisconsin Badgers

KICKED OFF

Eastern Kentucky Colonels (Formerly #25)

Minnesota Golden Gophers (Formerly #24)

JUST MISS (in no order)

Eastern Kentucky Colonels

Campbell Camels

Illinois Fighting Illini'

Alabama Crimson Tide

Washington State Cougars

Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders

Minnesota Golden Gophers

NC State Wolfpack

San Francisco Dons

WHO TO WATCH (in no order)

Princeton Tigers

Georgetown Hoyas

Liberty Flames

New Mexico Lobos

Georgia Tech

Purdue Boilermakers

Indiana Hoosiers

Penn State Nittany Lions

Eastern Michigan Eagles

SURPRISE OF THE WEEK

Iowa State Cyclones: For 10 straight years, Oklahoma State dominated the BIG 12. History was against Iowa State, but they finally upended their powerhouse rivals and took home the crown. This team has all of the necessary talent to do some damage at NCAA's, they'll just all have to run well on the same day.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

BYU Cougars: No matter what your thoughts were on the West Coast Conference Championships, the fact of the matter is that BYU put five guys ahead of Portland's #1. That in itself is incredibly impressive and not something that many people outside of Provo probably expected.

NOTES

- Let's give some love to Princeton. Columbia put four men in the top 10, but the Tigers responded by placing all five of their scorers in the top 10. When you run like that, you aren't going to lose.

- Alabama is such a difficult team to figure out. When was the last time we've seen a top three like theirs mixed with a bottom two that are so noticeably far away in the results? In a way, the Crimson Tide have essentially put their team score entirely on just two men. Some days it works (SEC's), other days it doesn't (Notre Dame). The real test will be seeing how this team is able to transition to the 10k distance.

- What happened Minnesota? They were 12th at Wisconsin, but fell to 6th at BIG 10's. I mentioned that the Gophers have had a history of inconsistency, and the BIG 10 results this past weekend only solidify that argument.

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