Sorry gentlemen. We couldn't not use this photo.

A lot of thought, research and arguing went into our Saucony Flo50 rankings, and we like to think we did a pretty darn good job at compiling them. However, some of them have left even us a little perplexed. Take the No. 5 Mississippi men. Last year the Rebels made their first ever NCAA Championship appearance after winning the South Region. They went on to finish 29th and their top individual, Wes Gallagher, finished 80th.

And then we went ahead and ranked them No. 5 in the NCAA. This weekend’s opening race for the top Rebel men will hopefully show the world why.

Just How Good Are the Ole Miss Men? We’re About to Find Out

The Rebels are just one of the four Saucony Flo50 top 10 ranked teams that will compete at the Greater Louisville Classic. Mississippi, along with No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 7 Iona and No 10 Michigan will all be on hand to “try out” an 8K version of the NCAA course (10K, of course) at Tom E.P. Sawyer Park.

Ole Miss’s No. 5 ranking is largely based on their track credentials and huge transfer pick ups in No. 17 MJ Erb from Syracuse, Craig Engels from N.C. State and Ryan Manahan from Georgetown, so this race will be a true test of the Rebels’ ability to run as a team on the grass. Erb, Gallagher, Sean Tobin, Robert Domanic and Trevor Gilley look like a great probable top five on paper, but how will they stack up against some of the NCAA’s top XC athletes?

Related: Greater Louisville Classic Complete Entries

Wisconsin showed major pack running at the Br. Doyle Meet of Champions at Iona the other week. Led by No. 6 Malachy Schrobilgen, the Badgers had five runners finish 26:09-26:10 for the 8K race. A 1-second spread between your top five ‘aint too shabby. Granted the competition wasn’t extremely deep, it shows that this team can run a controlled effort together, and did we mention none of them are seniors?

Iona and Michigan have yet to run their squads at full strength and this will be our sneak peek and the teams that finished eight and 11th in Terre Haute last fall. No. 10 Mason Ferlic will face Big 10 rival Schrobilgen for the first of many times this fall and bragging rights are on the line.

@ksully330 has confirmed: I now share the 1000m Arb hill record with @alan_webb1 in 3:10. Am I a sub-3:50 miler yet?

— Mason Ferlic (@masonferlic) September 29, 2015

Individuals to keep an eye out for include Louisville 2014 All Americans No. 22 Edwin Kibichiy (23rd) and Ernest Kibet (32nd). The two are known for taking out races aggressively together, and surely we can expect this on their home course. Fun fact: The last time this race was held the same season Louisville hosted the NCAA Championships (2012), Louisville’s Japhet Kipkoech and Kibet, then freshman, finished eighth and ninth in a stacked field including NCAA stars Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu. Kipkoech recently beat Kibet and Kibichiy at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic, however has yet to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Erin Finn and the Ridiculously Talented Big 10 Conference

No. 6 Erin Finn and the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines, along with six other Saucony Flo50 top 25 teams, will prove or disprove (yikes!) their ranking on the future NCAA course.

Finn has easily won two races this fall, so is she back to her old self? Her outdoor season would prove so, as she ran 15:32 for 5K and ran a solo effort 33:54 to win her second Big 10 10K title. So we know Finn is good, but can she lead the Wolverines back to the podium, a position they achieved in 2013 when they were fourth. The 2014 Wolverines were plagued with injury, and this year it seems they have hidden talents just waiting to break out on a bigger stage. With plenty of Big 10 competition, this is the place to do it.

No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 17 Penn State will be Michigan’s biggest challenge. They shouldn’t have too much trouble defeating the Badgers, as 2014 NCAA Runner-up Sarah Disanza and 2013 All American Emma-Lisa Murphy are not on the startlist. We know Disanza is coming off an injury and perhaps will debut at the Wisconsin Invite in two weeks, but without those two it’s unlikely Wisconsin will trump Michigan.

Related: View all of the Saucony Flo50 Rankings!

Penn State looks really good on paper, with two-time Big Ten Champion Tori Gerlach and NCAA qualifiers Elizabeth Chikotas and Jillian Hunsberger leading the charge, but they never seem to be on the same page. At last year’s Pre-Nats, Chikotas finished a surprising eighth, and Gerlach and Chikotas fell to 47th and 67th, respectively. This good of a trio cannot afford for one of them to have an off day if they want Penn State to move up in the rankings. Don’t get me wrong, this Nittany Lion squad is talented and could be a surprise team in November.

A team with a top 25 ranking on the line would be No. 22 Iowa State and No. 23 West Virginia. The 2014 NCAA Runner-up Cyclones are without Crystal Nelson and entered top returners Bethanie Brown, Perez Rotich and Erin Hooker, as well as anticipated newcomer Becky Straw from the UK. Losing Nelson, seventh at last year's NCAA Championships, weighs heavily on the Cyclones and they desperately need a good team performance, not only to bring their ranking up but to boost morale on a team rebuilding in Ames, Iowa.