Follow our 2017 FloXC Countdown, where FloTrack ranks the top ten cross country teams and individuals in the NCAA this season which will be LIVE on FloTrack. The No. 2 men's spot goes to Colorado Mines, and here's why:

Probable Top Five:

SO Logan Ramlet (20th at '16 NCAA XC)
JR Grant Colligan (8:24 3K; 14:32 5K; 33rd at '15 NCAA XC)
JR Ben Schneiderman (8:41 3K; 43rd at '16 NCAA XC)
JR Josh Hoskinson (4:06 Mile; 42nd at '16 NCAA XC)
SR Nick Sevcik (14:25 5K; 51st at '16 NCAA XC)

Analysis:

On October 22, 2016, the men from Colorado Mines appeared well on their way to repeating as NCAA DII Cross Country champions. On that day, the Orediggers destroyed everyone at the conference championships with a measly 20 points, putting their entire top five in the top six finishers to crush RMAC rival Adams State by 24 points. But things didn't quite work out so well four weeks later.

After dominating the most competitive conference meet in the country, Colorado Mines fell flat at NCAAs to finish third -- 99 points behind Adams State. It can be a fool's errand to simply compare one race to another and make predictions, but there's no doubt Mines had the tools to win last season yet stumbled in the moment. Their lack of a low stick doomed them at NCAAs on a day that Adams State put three in the top 10. Fortunately, the Orediggers bring back five men who finished inside the top 54 at nationals, giving them another opportunity to dethrone their rival in 2017.

Logan Ramlet was 20th at NCAAs last fall and finished as the top man for Mines as just a redshirt freshman. While his only other All-American teammate from 2016, Nathanael Williams, has graduated, Ramlet is joined in the projected top five by an accomplished group. Grant Colligan was only 54th at nationals last fall, but he was an impressive 33rd as a freshman in 2015. The rest of the squad finished ahead of Colligan last fall, making this team fully capable of producing five low sticks at nationals.

FULL MEN'S RANKINGS HERE