2020 NCAA DI Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll – Week 5
NEW ORLEANS – There is less than one month remaining until the rescheduled 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on March 15 at the Oklahoma State Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma. (DID YOU KNOW: The meet will be televised on ESPNU and through the ESPN App after the USTFCCCA and ESPN combined efforts to bring the championships back to live television.)
Between now and then, we’ll have three editions of the NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Polls to figure out who the coaches believe to be the top-30 teams in the nation. This is the first of those three National Coaches’ Polls. The next will come out March 3. In addition, there will be a special, final regular season index released on the evening of Friday, March 5, a day in which 11 conference championships are scheduled.
Let’s see how much changed since the last National Coaches’ Poll came out on February 3.
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Tulsa strengthened its grip on the No. 4 spot, right behind No. 1 BYU, No. 2 Northern Arizona and No. 3 Arkansas, thanks to its performance at the American Athletic Conference Championships. The Golden Hurricane rolled to the team title as it put all seven of its runners in the top-12, including a 1-2 sweep with Patrick Dever and Scott Beattie. All told, Tulsa scored just 20 points in Wichita, Kansas, for its seventh consecutive conference crown.
Stanford jumped seven spots from No. 12 to No. 5 after a dominant effort at the FSU Winter XC Classic. The Cardinal led by as many as 88 points at the 4K split and cruised to a 31-point win over former No. 6 Iowa State. Cole Sprout and Charles Hicks finished fifth and sixth individually. Stanford has been ranked in the top-5 in seven of the past nine polls.
Colorado is back in the top-10 for the fourth time this season. The now 10th-ranked Buffs made their season debut at the FSU Winter XC Invitational and finished lockstep with the Cyclones – but lost out on the runner-up position due to a tiebreaker. Eduardo Herrera led the way for CU with a runner-up individual finish behind champion Wesley Kiptoo of Iowa State.
Utah State matches its best ranking in program history at No. 19. The Aggies haven’t been shy about competing this winter, traveling to Tallahassee for the FSU Winter XC Classic and taking a strong fourth place. Camren Todd paced Utah State’s charge with an 11th-place finish.
Butler is ranked for the first time since 2010. The Bulldogs, who enter the poll at No. 24, recently won the team title at the Lipscomb Winter XC Classic in a rout with 21 points. Simon Bedard captured the individual title in the race as Butler went 1-2-3 in the standings.
Duke turned a sterling effort at the FSU Winter XC Classic into its first ranking since 2012. The Blue Devils finished sixth at the meet with a 49-second spread between its first and fifth runners.
Look for a lot to change between now and the next National Coaches’ Poll on March 3 as we’ll see two huge invitationals and a number of conference championships in the meantime.
