Men's Big Ten XC Preview 2011 (Sunday, October 30th)

Flotrack's Big Ten Coverage

That time of year again…leaves falling, finals approaching, but more importantly conference XC weekend is upon us.  Here’s a look at how the men’s teams in the Big Ten look to stack up.

 

#1 Wisconsin.  

Barring some sort of lead cart disaster or equal catastrophe, this is the Badger’s race to lose.  They’ll be charging hard with the fantastic five of Reed Connor, Ryan Collins, Elliot Krause, Mohamed Ahmed and Maverick Darling.  Also look for Drew Shields to be chasing down his fellow Indiana natives.  Possible Big Ten debut for a Wisconsin Track Club native as well?

 

#2 Indiana.

While I don’t think they have the guns to win it this year, I think that the Hoosiers will be a lot closer to Wisconsin than many would expect.  Given their stellar track times and a pancake flat course in Champaign, expect IU to make a bold statement about their intentions for a trophy this fall.  Also, I’d like to take this opportunity to express some sincere respect for this IU team.  Over the past three seasons, they’ve managed to bring themselves from an early season scare to a legitimate threat to grab a podium spot come Terre Haute.

 

#3 Michigan

This conference is wide open after two and I for one wouldn’t be surprised to see the Wolverines take advantage.  They had a solid showing at the UW adidas invitational and are coming around at just the right time.  The one real advantage they have is the pack of Bobby Aprill, Craig Forys and Brendon Blacklaws who could really do some damage in the chase pack.  They’ve also got a sixth man right on the heels of their fifth for both insurance purposes as well as a good push for the fifth.  

 

#4 Minnesota

Normally I’d give the Gophers the benefit of the doubt and put them at third, but I’m not sure if they have the depth to pull it out this year.  That being said, they’re Minnesota and they’ve built a legacy on pulling off consistent top three finishes when least expected.  Bottom line: this is a team that knows how to show up.  Look for Hassan Mead to yet again go after a Big Ten crown (no, they do not actually give away crowns [but how sick would that be?]

 

#5 Illinois

Illinois has several advantages going into this race.  They’re at home.  Five members of their top 6 are seniors.  More importantly, they have nothing to lose.  This team has weathered coaching changes several times over but have seen it through together.  Now all they have to do is go out and run smart to pull off a nice showing.  Nothing fancy, just a solid foothold for the Illini to reestablish themselves again in the conference.  Look for Colin Mickow and Dan Kremske to lead the way as they rebound from a lackluster showing at Wisconsin.  

 

#6 Ohio State

It’s hard to rank such a typically solid team so low, but I’m really just hoping for a bit of a shake up this year.  I could just as easily be eating my words next Sunday afternoon as the Buckeyes grab third place.  They were just fifty points away from beating Michigan at the Adidas Invitational, put on a smaller scale the gap would be much closer.  

 

#7 Iowa

Hey, at least they’ve got a low stick with Thode.  No easy way to say it, the Hawkeyes have seen better days.  But that’s what teams do in this conference, they fall off for a little while and then they start building other parts of their program.  Like say their fantastic Big Ten Outdoor title last outdoor season.  Or their solid 800 crew or any other number of track events.  But for now their distance squad is still waiting for another year.

 

#8 Michigan State

What can a Wisconsin fan say about Michigan State at a time like this?  I want to drag their name through the mud…but alas that wouldn’t be fair to their runners.  This team is hurting though as they haven’t been able to progress since their surprise trip to Terre Haute in 2009.  Also, for that matter…whatever happened to Shane Knowle?  Not trying to be a jerk, just genuinely curious if he continues to train?  Kid had some great wheels.  

 

#9 Purdue

Lots of talk on the dreaded message boards about Purdue’s place in the conference.  (This conference, not the MAAC conference.)  They’ll hope to produce on a dare I say a decently talented squad in the cluster **** that is the back half of the Big Ten.

 

#10 Penn State University

I did something that I usually don’t do for cross country: I compared times from Penn State’s recent victory at their home meet to the Big Ten meet hosted on the very same course.  If you’ve ever seen PSU’s monster hilly golf course, you’ll know that times don’t fluctuate much.  Anyway…Penn State’s average time a week ago was 26:46, good enough to tie their own 9th place showing in 2009 when their average was 26:49.  

 

#11 Northwestern

What can I say?  Call it poor journalism/research, but I’d put a fictional team before whatstheirname?

 

#12 Nebraska

Hey Nebraska, you’re the new guy.  You’ve got to get your face rubbed in it for a little while…well until track at least.