I just put up two previews of the NCAA Cross Country Championships at Runner's Tribe. I cover all the big questions, like:
- Why is #1 ranked Stanford still an underdog, despite their amazing season?
- Which NBA teams are Stanford, Oregon and Oklahoma State like and why?
- What does the #2 ranked women's team have in common with an untrue urban legend?
- How many records will Jenny Barringer break and which ones are they?
- Who will be the top freshman finishers in each race?
- And of course, who is going to win and why?
I give some bold predictions and I make a few ridiculous arguments, but it's more fun to take the Adam Dunn approach to predictions: it's either going to be a home run or a strike out. In the meantime, I hope you'll give them a read and leave me a comment here or there with your thoughts on the NCAAs.
Here's a snippet of the Men's Preview:
All you can ask for as a fan is a competitive race. Team titles
decided by battles from the first man to the fifth. Some years,
though, one team is so stacked that while you hope for a battle, but
you don't really expect to see one. This NCAA Cross Country season,
that team was Oklahoma State.
Don't ask me why they've been ranked #2 in the USTFCCCA polls all
year, when they have five studs returning and the 16th place finisher
in the NCAAs (Girma Mecheso) transferred to the school. That team is
like the Los Angeles Lakers of the NCAA. They have a Kobe-esque
superstar in German Fernandez,
a bunch of studs throughout the lineup, and they picked up an
apparently moody star in Mecheso (the Ron Artest connection). They
have to be number one, unless the rest of the coaches think OSU coach
Dave Smith is more Del Harris than Phil Jackson. Personally, I
expected them to run roughshod over the NCAA competition, including
Oregon...(continue reading)
Here's a snippet of the Women's Preview:
This year's team battle in the NCAA Cross Country Championships women's
race wasn't looking to be much more than a skirmish at the beginning of
the year. That's because the Washington Huskies returned
nearly everyone from the squad that won NCAAs last year with a grand total of 79 points.
In fact, that team almost put all seven in front of every other team's
fourth runner (only Oregon put 4 in before their 7th). Just like last
year, they are too deep, too strong. They are like a teenager in a
pillow fight with kindergarten students. There's no challenge they
can't absorb and there's no attack they can't repel. They were
dominant last year and this year would be the same.
But just when I worried it was going to be anti-climactic, up stepped Villanova...(continue reading)
The NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held at Indiana State University on Monday, November 23rd. You can watch live on Versus at 12pm (EST).
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