2025 NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 1
NEW ORLEANS — Cross country is underway!
With about two and a half weeks in the books, let’s take a look at the newest edition of the NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches Poll, which was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday. USTFCCCA polls and rankings are presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division I — Men's Cross Country
This Week's National Top Five
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
In the preseason, we said that the top-ranked Cyclones could challenge for their first national team title since 1994. Well, Iowa State made a strong opening statement on its home course a few weeks ago. The Cyclones showcased their depth as they went 1-2-4-5-10 in the team scoring for a 24-point win over NJCAA DI Iowa Central CC. Allen Bonnessen and Emanuel Galdino led the way for Iowa State.
The second-ranked Lobos have two meets under their belts so far this year. In their season opener, the Lobos top-four runners went 3-4-5-6 with a five second spread between them, while the fifth man wasn’t too far behind.
Oklahoma State opened its season at home at the end of August with a win at the Cowboy Preview. The Cowboys edged rival Oklahoma by a score of 29-32. Oklahoma State went 3-4-6-7-9 for that point total. Jacob Deacon was the top finisher for the Cowboys in third place.
BYU, the fourth-ranked team and defending national champions, opened its title defense with a bang. The Cougars threw down a perfect score at their home opener – the only 15-point showing by a top-five team in the poll Not only did BYU go 1-5, its sixth and seventh men came across before any other team could register one finisher.
Wisconsin opened its campaign down in Missouri at the Mizzou Opener. Even though the fifth-ranked Badgers came in fourth place, they showed great team running and tactics with their entire lineup finishing in places 26-35 with a 1.5-second spread between them (15:48.2-15:49.7).
Here are the rest of the top-ten teams in Week 1: No. 6 Virginia, No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 9 Wake Forest, and No. 10 Oregon.
All eyes will eventually be on the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri, because that’s when the 2025 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be held on Saturday, November 22.
