2020 NCAA DI Men's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll – Week 6
NEW ORLEANS – Are you ready for the penultimate NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll of the 2020 season?
Well, just 12 days remain until athletes toe the starting line at the rescheduled 2020 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. You can watch all of the action from the OSU Cross Country Course LIVE on ESPN U and/or the ESPN App beginning at 12:30 pm ET.
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Defending champion BYU is the near unanimous favorite to win the team title once again, taking home 10 of 11 possible first-place votes. The Cougars most recently won the team title at the West Coast Conference Championships in a rout, putting all five of their scoring athletes in the top-10 and totaling just 25 points. Conner Mantz won the individual title in 22:54.4.
Northern Arizona remains the top choice as BYU’s toughest challenger, holding one first-place vote and enough points to be a clear No. 2. The Lumberjacks dominated at the Battle Born Collegiate Challenge back on February 19 with 20 points (1-2-4-5-8), but then saw their run of conference titles at the Big Sky Championships come to an end as Southern Utah won it all.
Stanford advanced one spot to No. 4, right behind No. 3 Arkansas. The Cardinal finished runner-up at the Battle Born Collegiate Challenge with 48 points. Charles Hicks led the way for Stanford in sixth place, while the other four Cardinal scorers finished ninth through 13th place.
Tulsa, Oklahoma State and Iowa State share a bit of recent history and sit No. 5, No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. Just last week, the Big 12 champion Cowboys beat the American Athletic Conference champion Golden Hurricane by one point at the OSU Winter Open, with several Cyclones racing, too. Oklahoma State earned top honors in the Midwest Region with that win.
Each of the next nine teams shifted spots after what happened at the WCC Championships. Portland fell eight spots from No. 8 to No. 16 after a third-place finish, while Gonzaga went from Also Receiving Votes to No. 15 following its runner-up effort. Washington, Colorado, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Oregon and Iona all took one step forward from their previous spot in Week 6 of the National Coaches’ Poll.
Further down, Southern Utah jumped back into the top-30 after a one-week absence. That’s what an upset win over NAU will do for the now 24th-ranked T-Birds.
The final National Coaches’ Poll of the 2020 season will be released on Friday night following the conclusion of Conference Championships Friday.
