By Bryan Deibel for MileSplit

NXN is almost here.

Who will be some of the top teams and individuals battling for the coveted Nike Cross Nationals title? Two of the favorites all year have been Loudoun Valley (VA) and Great Oak (CA). Will one of them take home the crown or will another team pull off an upset?  

No. 1 Great Oak

Great Oak has gone undefeated all year and has had great depth in doing so. Carlos Carvajal has been the team's lead man in all of their major races, but behind him the team has solid depth.

Head coach Doug Soles has alluded to it many times, the fact that this group looks solid and has progressed throughout the season similarly to the 2015 squad. This team also has the best chance of winning based on the speed rating merge. It has them projected to win, scoring 148 points.

No. 2 Loudoun Valley

Loudoun Valley has gone undefeated all year, too. The Vikings had a dominating run at the Virginia state meet, earning the Group 4A boys sweep. That was the first time a team had swept the state meet in Virginia history. But Loudoun Valley's season leading up to that point was no walk in the park. They raced at Great American Cross Country Festival against other strong ranked teams to take home the win. These guys pack a mean one-two punch with Sam Affolder and Peter Morris leading the charge. After that, the team has a solid pack with its three to five guys, who have finished fairly close to each other over the team's past two races.  

Their form at NXN depends on how high their fifth man finishes. At the beginning of the year, this looked to be more of a concern but as of late junior Conner Wells -- who had been working back from injury during the beginning of the season -- has pushed to close the gap and has become a very reliable fifth runner.

After winning the NXN Southeast region with 72 points, the Vikings will try to make a run at a national title, a goal they've had from day one. 

No. 3 Downers Grove North

Downers Grove North won the deep NXR Midwest with 104 points. But this team doesn't have just one guy at the top. What's going to help them is the team's tight pack; almost every runner is capable of going sub-16 minutes. Based on the team scoring this season, Downers Grove North has only a 17.90 one through five split, which is one of the best entering NXN. What will hurt is the fact that the team average is only 15:52.22, while many teams at the big dance have a faster average. What could also hurt is the squad's lack of a low stick.  

No. 4 Wayzata

The guys from Wayzata are coming in strong when it counts. The Trojans had an early-season loss to Great Oak at the Roy Griak Invitational in September, but ever since have been firing on all cylinders. They won their state meet with 37 points and went on to win NXN Heartland with 114 points.

Wayzata has a strong front-runner in Khalid Hussein, who's come in to form after battling a small injury early in the season. Hussein was the Minnesota Class AA state champion and third-place finisher in the NXN Heartland region. The Trojans will face some of the same some of the same challenges as Downers Grove North. 

Other Teams To Consider

Corning (NY) - Although they did not win NXR New York, the squad wasn't far off Fayetteville-Manulis. The team also beat FM at the New York State Class A meet. Corning could be in the mix if its firing on all cylinders.  

Mountain Vista High School (CO) - The squad shocked NXR Southwest by upsetting two strong teams in Springville and Timpanogos. The squad scored a crazy low 80 points to take home the win. These guys are going to be serious podium contenders if they can race at nationals the same way they did at regionals two weekends ago.  

Eleanor Roosevelt (CA) - This team has not gone to the biggest meets this season, but it was no surprise when the squad finished second at the California state Class A meet to earn an automatic bid to NXN, just behind Great Oak. They have a solid top two in Tyler Spencer and Raymon Ornelas, who should both be low sticks for the Mustangs. Where they may have a little trouble is at the three to five positions. The gap is only going to get wider with the level of competition at NXN.  

Kamiakin (WA) - You could say these guys are a sleeper pick as a podium team. The NXR Northwest hasn't gotten a lot of credit this year, mostly due to the fact that many of these west coast teams haven't been racing in a lot of bigger well-known meets. But still be on the lookout for Kamiakin, as it won Northwest with 113 points. Last year, Bozeman upset the field at NXN, so what's to stop a team like Kamiakin from doing the same this time around?