The grass is mowed, the fitness is sharp, and the injuries are being kept at bay by KT tape and prayer. That’s right; it’s nearly the NCAA postseason. We’ve got about a week left before teams don their best matching sweatsuits, business casual attire, and/or Halloween costumes and head off to their respective conference championships.

So where’s everybody at? We’ve got plenty to unpack heading into an exciting month of postseason racing ahead:

The Big 12: Early in the season, the No. 1 ranked OSU men cleaned up on their home course at a low-profile meet with a season-best 18 points. A week before, the No. 2 ranked BYU men posted a perfect score with a 5.7-second spread at the more competitive Dellinger Invitational. The national champion won’t be crowned three weeks early at Big 12s, but all eyes will surely be on the OSU-BYU dogfight and its team title implications. The individual title race is also set to be a mishmash of Cougs and Cowboys, with names like Casey Clinger, Denis Kipngetich, and Brian Musau standing out amongst the bunch, but don’t count out Solomon Kipchoge – the 28-year-old freshman won the Arturo Barrios Invitational last Friday in a stopwatch-breaking time of 22:01. 

Also at Dellinger, the Utah women validated their No. 6 ranking by placing five in the top 10, establishing themselves as a longshot threat to thwart a BYU team sweep in Waco. West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe is the odds-on favorite to win her third Big 12 cross country title after redshirting last fall. The Canadian senior finished fourth at Pre-Nats in Madison last week and leads a Mountaineers squad that just jumped 24 spots(!) to No. 4 in their quest for an upset of BYU. The case for the BYU women is simple: they won a clash of the five highest-ranking teams in the nation at Pre-Nats by a margin of 52 points and sit ranked No. 1 in this week’s USTFCCCA Coaches’ Poll. 

The SEC: At the Crimson Classic, the ‘Bama women backed up their No. 7 ranking, going 1-2-6-7-12. This included an ostensible tie between undefeated Doris Lemngole and meteoric riser Brenda Tuwei. Both are set for a showdown in Texas next week against former teammate Hilda Olemomoi, now competing for Florida, who finished runner-up in Wisconsin on Saturday. Will the Tide roll over Hildamania? We’ll find out in about nine days. On the men’s side, No. 3 Arkansas are on track to defend their conference title after a leading team performance at Pre-Nats. The individual race is shaping up to be a battle of Kiprops (no relation) once again, as two-time defending champ Victor of Alabama will try to stave off a challenge from last year’s runner-up Patrick of Arkansas.

The Big 10: Despite the addition of Oregon and Washington, expect Wisconsin’s Bob Liking to win the men’s individual title for the fourth year straight. Bob finished 31 spots ahead of the next closest Big Ten runner at Pre-Nats. However, UCLA’s Michael Mireles has emerged as a dark horse candidate to win the first Big Ten title in school history after his sixth-place showing at Dellinger earlier this month. The team race is sure to be hotly contested as the Badgers vie for their seventh straight conference title, but the Ducks and Dawgs won’t go down without a fight.

On the women’s side, there are a handful of challengers to the crown that’s been held by Ohio State’s Addie Engel each of the last two years. Oregon’s Maddy Elmore’s only appearance this fall was a dominant win in Eugene two weeks ago, but Penn State’s Florence Caron might be the favorite when judging total body of work. The Quebec native has finished no worse than third across three races, with her most recent performance being an impressive third-place showing at the Princeton Fall Classic. The team race seems a bit more cut and dry, as the No. 2 ranked Washington squad has been racing unbelievably well this year, even with last year’s ninth-place finisher at NCAAs, Amina Maatoug, not quite looking like herself so far. If the Duke transfer can rediscover her 2023 form, it’s all but a lock for the Huskies.

The ACC: Clemson’s Gladys Chepngetich, Judy Kosgei, and Silvia Jelelgo will most likely be up front and contending for individual glory, but NC State’s Grace Hartman will look to break up the pack of Tigers. The Wolfpack junior finished behind the Clemson trio in an early-season 5K, but has since run two solid 6Ks. The men’s race is Parker Wolfe’s to lose, which is something he rarely does in championships. His only race so far this season was a Nuttycombe victory in 23:04, showing he’s still the top dog… or wolf. 

The Stanford men will look to continue their hot streak after a third-place finish and 28-second spread at Pre-Nats. That performance pumped their ranking from No. 9 to No. 5 past new conference rivals Notre Dame, who dropped from No. 5 to No. 10. A potential confounding variable is Wake Forest, who won at the Panorama Farms Invitational, without Nuttycombe runner-up Rocky Hansen. The NC State women don’t usually need home field advantage to win, but they’ll want every edge this year as they fell short by 77 points to Notre Dame in their head-to-head contest at Pre-Nats.