By Chris Chavez
November 14, 2024
The 2024 NCAA Division I cross country regionals will take place on Friday, November 15. On The CITIUS MAG Podcast, Chris Chavez and cross country guru Isaac Wood broke down their predictions and projections for which schools will advance to next week’s NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin.
How to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships
Throughout the country, there will be nine regionals contested. The top two teams receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. If a team finishes third or worse, they will have to rely on the NCAA Committee to select it as one of the 13 at-large teams. The Key factors weighed by the Committee include regular season points and specifically wins against teams that have already qualified or earned a championship berth.
The first four regional finishers not from an automatic qualifying or at-large team also secure an auto-bid to the championships.
All final qualifiers will be confirmed at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 16 on NCAA.com
Here’s how Isaac Wood projects the men’s regionals shaking out:
Great Lakes | 12 p.m. ET | Live Results
1. Notre Dame (Q)
2. Wisconsin (Q)
3. Butler (q)
4. Michigan State (q)
5. Michigan (q)
6. Indiana
7. Purdue
8. Ohio State
9. Cincinnati
10. Toledo
11. Miami (Ohio)
12. Youngstown St
13. Eastern Michigan
14. IU Indianapolis
15. Oakland
Mid-Atlantic Region | 1:00 p.m. ET | Live Results
1. Villanova (Q)
2. Princeton (Q)
3. Georgetown
4. Navy
5. Penn
6. Penn State
7. Pittsburgh
8. Lehigh
9. Bucknell
10. George Washington
11. La Salle
12. Temple
13. American
14. Saint Joseph (Conn.)
15. Monmouth
Midwest | 1:00 p.m. ET | Live Results
1. Oklahoma State (Q)
2. Iowa State (Q)
3. Tulsa
4. Loyola (Ill.)
5. Missouri
6. Minnesota
7. Illinois
8. South Dakota St.
9. Bradley
10. Kansas
11. Illinois State
12. Oklahoma
13. Drake
14. Iowa
15. North Dakota State
Isaac’s Take: Tulsa is a bubble team. Right now, I don’t have them in but they’re going to need some love and the cards to fall their way in some of these other regions by some of the teams that they’ve beaten this season.
Courtesy OSU Athletics
Mountain Region | 3:00 p.m. ET | Live Results
1. BYU (Q)
2. New Mexico (Q)
3. Northern Arizona (q)
4. Texas Tech (q)
5. Colorado (q)
6. Wyoming (q)
7. Utah State (q)
8. Montana State
9. Colorado St.
10. Air Force
11. Weber State
12. Southern Utah
13. Utah Valley
14. Nevada
15. New Mexico St.
Isaac’s Take: I have Colorado State as the first one out right now. Colorado State would get in if they beat Utah State or Wyoming. Those three can be considered bubble teams. There are actually probably about nine teams good enough to make it to NCAAs from here.
Courtesy BYU Athletics
Northeast Region | 12:00 p.m. ET | Live Results
1. Harvard (Q)
2. Syracuse (Q)
3. Iona
4. Cornell
5. Yale
6. Providence
7. Columbia
8. UMass Amherst
9. Army West Point
10. UMass Lowell
11. Stony Brook
12. Boston College
13. Boston University
14. Central Connecticut
15. Buffalo
Isaac’s Take: This is another tough one. I have Iona as a bubble team and third in that race. If they get third, they’re out. They have to get top two. If Iona gets in the top two, the Northeast will get three teams into NCAAs, which causes a bit of a mess with the Kolas points. Iona is a “bid-stealer.” If they can get that auto-qualifier, they’d push either Harvard or Syracuse down into third but all of them would make it. Maybe one of the Mountain Region, Great Lakes or Southeast schools ends up out. Watch Iona closely.
South Region | 9:30 a.m. ET | Live Results
1. Alabama (Q)
2. Florida State (Q)
3. Ole Miss
4. Tennessee
5. Auburn
6. Georgia Tech
7. North Florida
8. Belmont
9. Lipscomb
10. Mid. Tenn. State
11. Georgia
12. Florida
13. Vanderbilt
14. Jacksonville St.
15. Kennesaw State
Isaac’s Take: I think Florida State running at home is going to help them a lot.
South Central Region | 11:00 a.m. ET | Live Results
1. Arkansas (Q)
2. Tulane (Q)
3. Texas
4. Texas A&M
5. TCU
6. Incarnate Word
7. Stephen F. Austin
8. Arkansas State
9. Sam Houston
10. Houston Christian
11. Tarleton State
12. North Texas
13. Texas A&M-CC
14. Abilene Christian
15. Rice
Southeast Region | 11:30 a.m. ET | Live Results
1. North Carolina (Q)
2. Wake Forest (Q)
3. Virginia (q)
4. Eastern Kentucky (q)
5. Virginia Tech (q)
6. Furman (q)
7. NC State
8. Kentucky
9. Liberty
10. Duke
11. App State
12. Louisville
13. Norfolk State
14. William & Mary
15. Charlotte
Isaac’s Take: I have Virginia Tech sneaking into NCAAs by beating Furman. I don’t love that pick because I could also see Virginia Tech finishing sixth. If they have a good day, they can get a push. They might be paying attention to how well Iona, Colorado State or Tulsa runs.
Courtesy Wake Forest Athletics
West Region | 3:00 p.m. ET | Live Results
1. Stanford (Q)
2. Washington (Q)
3. CBU (q)
4. Portland
5. Oregon
6. Gonzaga
7. Boise State
8. Cal Poly
9. Washington St.
10. California
11. Cal St. Fullerton
12. UC Davis
13. UC Irvine
14. UC San Diego
15. UC Riverside
Isaac’s Take: Oregon has to get third at minimum and Cal Baptist has to get fourth. Portland has no points. Think about that! That’s a great team. Portland has to win or get second to get into NCAAs – unless they get third and Cal Baptist gets fourth. If that’s the case, then Oregon is probably fifth and they’re out. Cal Baptist can break a lot of hearts by getting third behind Stanford and Washington. There would be some pretty good teams being left at home.
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Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and is an aspiring sub-five-minute miler.
