Over the next couple days, I’ll crank out a couple blog posts on why X team will win or not win the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championship on Saturday. On Wednesday, I will be taping a podcast with Chris Chavez previewing all of the action for Saturday so if you have any questions or comments, send them my way by tweeting at me: @Wood_Report

The Case For Colorado

I think they’re a team that’s hungry from last year. I thought going into last year’s championship, I was pretty confident that they were going to get it done and win. They didn’t and entered this year with a chip on their shoulder because it didn’t come together on race day. They have the talent to win with the low stick star of Dani Jones. There’s an incredible depth on here, which we saw at Pre-Nationals and at the PAC-12 Championships. Combine the experience from last year along with the top-tier talent and depth and that’s a simple winning formula for a national championship.

The Case Against Colorado

This is a good question. For them not to win, I think it’s just that New Mexico or San Francisco being better than them. In all honesty, Colorado could have its best day and still not win. The rest of the field is just that good. Those other teams have better firepower at the front of the race. Colorado has one really, really good low stick with Dani Jones but the others may be able to pack two women before the next Colorado woman crosses the finish line. The rest of the women on Colorado’s team are All-American caliber but the others have athletes that could finish in the top 10 or top 15. That would be too much to overcome.

Coming tomorrow: The case for and against Oregon