The past few days we’ve discussed the championship favorites, those teams who’ll vie for the top prize and individuals who will race for gold. The favorites are always fun to talk about, we see them right up front, we can easily follow them, we know what we’re getting for the most part, but what about teams that might surprise? Which teams might challenge for a top 5-6 finish at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships?

On the men’s side, Texas is the obvious favorite to upset one of the top five favorites. The Longhorns have been picking up steam as the season has gone on and now have a formidable top five, led by All-American contenders Ryan Dohner, Craig Lutz and Rory Tunningley. The squad easily won the South Central Regional and is a potential threat for a top three finish in Louisville.

Three more regional champions fall into the “surprise” mix. Northern Arizona, Oklahoma and Florida State each are running their best right now, each has All-American talent leading their squads and each has depth at their 3-4-5 spots to make a serious challenge should one of the favorites fall.

Northern Arizona is led by a trio of newcomers to the team in freshman Futsum Zeinasellassie, Brian Shrader and Matt McElroy. Add in top four runner sophomore Caleb Hoover and the Lumberjacks have a dark horse team that could really challenge. Zeinasellassie could be the best freshman in the country this fall, while transfers Shrader and McElroy have helped guide the squad with their experience. After beating BYU (and Colorado) 56-68 to win the Mountain Region, NAU is riding high. The only question mark for this squad is if true freshman and fifth man Nathan Weitz can bridge the 30-second gap between he and Hoover. If he can, watch out!

Oklahoma, with their top five being all seniors, is looking for one last push to win a trophy. The Sooners were considered one of the early favorites to challenge for the title, but haven’t quite lived up to their expectations. That doesn’t mean they should be overlooked. The Martin Smith led squad follows the lead of Patrick Casey, Kevin Williams and Bill Kogel. All three have tremendous upside and should challenge for top 30 finishes. The squad tied for victory at the Midwest Regional, which should give them plenty of confidence for tomorrow’s race.

Meanwhile, Florida State jumps back in the trophy hunt, with an experienced group of veterans and some strong pack running. The Seminoles follow the lead of Jakub Zivec and Breandan O’Neill, who placed 1-2 at the South Regional, which the team easily won with a 27 point total. With 5 of their top 7 graduating, you can be sure this team is hungry to grab onto another trophy.

The last men’s team we’re pointing to is Michigan. Placing second behind Wisconsin at the Great Lakes Regional, the Wolverines are running strong when it matters most. Frontrunner Dan Lowry is a legitimate top 15 threat, while their 2-5 pack ran a split of only 22 seconds at regionals. If the pack can bridge the gap between themselves and Lowry by cutting off even 10 seconds per man, Michigan could be the surprise team of the day Saturday.

On the women’s side, while there are basically six teams competing for a top four finish, there are three more teams who have the potential to crack the top four. Mountain Regional winner Weber State, Northeast Regional winner Providence and perennial contender Washington each have the talent to pull off an upset and finish on the trophy stand.

Weber State is perhaps the most overlooked team in the country this fall. The squad easily won the Mountain Regional last weekend, by running a 53 second 1-5 split, trumping runner-up New Mexico 63-95. Led by top 15 challenger Amber Henry, the squad packs up nicely 2-5, as they ran only a 26 second split at regionals. If one or two of their 2-5 runners can step up ever so slightly, don’t be surprised to see Weber State finish top five or higher Saturday.

One of the more intriguing teams in the women’s field is Providence. The Friars won the Northeast Regional with a dominant top four, with freshman Sarah Collins, Laura Nagel, Emily Sisson and Shelby Greany finishing 2-4-6-8, as the team tallied 46 points and won by 21. The key for Providence is their fifth runner. They very well could have the best top four in the country, but their number five spot is lacking. If one of their 5-7 runners, someone like veteran Samantha Roecker for example, can step up and finish within 10-15 seconds of Greany, Providence could shock the field and end up on the trophy stand. Ray Treacy teams can never be discounted, and this specific group certainly should not be.

The one squad no one should be discounting is Washington. The Huskies, while not having lived up to their top three pre-season ranking, are still an intriguing pick to surprise the field. Washington ran a mere 11-second 1-5 split at the West Regional, which saw them place fourth. The key to this team’s success lies in the performances of Katie Flood and Megan Goethals. The two runners were pre-season picks to finish top 8. While neither has shown the fitness of finishing that high over the past few weeks of racing, if they can step up and surprise the field with top 20 finishes, Washington could be very tough to beat. They are being overlooked heading into Saturday’s race, but one should never discount a squad that has had so much recent NCAA Championship success.

The fields are ready to run, the course is ready to rock and the season all comes down to this. It’s time to go run the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships!

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