After months of generational performances and historic races, the NCAA cross country season has just one race left.

'The Big Dance.'

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Coming off of an eventful Regional Championship Friday last week, the best of the best are set for one last clash at the Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin. 

Over the course of the season, a handful of teams and individuals that have solidified themselves as true contenders for the national title. 

After handing Oklahoma State their first loss in over a year at the 2024 Big 12 Championships, Ed Eyestone's BYU Cougars have been the team to beat. Led by senior Casey Clinger, BYU has a dominant pack of 4-6 All-American hopefuls, which makes them hard to match in two aspects. 

That two-front approach is what helped beat Oklahoma State earlier this month, as Casey Clinger finished close to the front in third, and James Corrigan, Joey Nokes, Creed Thompson, and Lucas Bons finished 7-8-11-12 as the Cougars tallied a mere 41 points. 

However, Oklahoma State is just as dominant in both aspects, most likely being the only other true challenger to BYU. Whether it's Denis Kipngetich, Laban Kipkemboi, Brian Musau, or Victor Shitsama, there are a number of Cowboys who could score in the single digits. Dennis Smith's squad had six runners across the line within 55 seconds,  and was the only team to have six runners inside the top 20 finishers. 

Keep in mind, just because these two are the favorites, does not mean there aren't other contenders. 

For starters, the Arkansas Razorbacks are a contender themselves, but there's no telling how they'll match up against the two Big 12 powers. 

If everything continues to go as planned for the SEC champs, there's no reason why they couldn't be the ones to emerge victorious. 

The trio of Kirami Yego, Timothy Chesondin, and Patrick Kiprop is one of the best 1-2-3 punches in the country, and when you add Yaseen Abdalla back into the mix, Arkansas potentially has at least four top 10 finishers.

Arkansas hasn't raced Oklahoma State or BYU, but that doesn't mean they haven't been tested. At the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals last month, Kiprop and company took down multiple ranked programs including Iowa State, Stanford, NAU, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame. 

Northern Arizona University could be a dark horse on Saturday, as well as Mick Byrne's Badger squad who typically races great on their home course. 

Iowa State and New Mexico have podium aspirations themselves, and have the tools to take home some hardware. 

15 Men Could Compete For the Win On Saturday

In all honesty, there are probably well over 15 men who could have their day in Madison, but there are a select few who stick out among the rest. 

After going undefeated and winning his first NCAA title last November, Harvard star Graham Blanks went on to break NCAA records and make the Olympic 5000m final in an injury-riddled track campaign. In his first cross country loss since 2022, Blanks couldn't hang on to New Mexico's Habtom Samuel, who's in the midst of his a historic run himself.

Samuel is the only person to beat Blanks on the grass in over two years, and did so convincingly in a new course record of 22:33.8 at Pre-Nationals last month. 

Last Friday, Blanks picked up a regional title in the Northeast region, while Samuel finished runner-up to Texas Tech's Solomon Kipchoge, 28:55.9-28:59.2 for 10k.

Along with Kipchoge, fellow Red Raider Ernest Cheruiyot has raced well this year, earning himself a place amongst contenders, as well as previously mentioned packs from BYU, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas.

Outside of them, Villanova's Liam Murphy and Wisconsin's Bob Liking are two men who could play spoiler, as well as Eastern Kentucky's Justine Kipkoech, Butler's William Zegarski, Virginia's Gary Martin, as well as Iowa State's pairing of Robin Kwemoi Bera and Said Mechaal.

Did you think I forgot about Parker Wolfe? The senior Tar Heel won big in what was a two-week long course record at the Nuttycombe Invitational, but a third and sixth place finish at ACCs and the Southeast region championship don't put him out of the picture. Wolfe knows how to win when it matters, and his outdoor season is an indicator he could do something big.

What Is The NCAA D1 Cross Country Championships 2024; NCAA XC Championship Schedule

The Cross Country Championships are at 10:20 a.m. (women’s 6000m) and 11:10 a.m. (men’s 10000m) on Nov. 23. The Division II and Division III Championships will be held on the same day, though start times have not yet been determined.

Where Are The NCAA D1 Cross Country Championships 2024?

The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Division I National Championships are at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Washington. They will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

csDivision I: Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Wisconsin

• Division II: Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, California
• Division III: LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.

FloTrack Is Streaming Cross Country High School State Meets All November

November is also the month of high school cross country championship meets. Check the FloTrack schedule for a list of all the state championships streaming on FloTrack

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