NEW ORLEANS – Cross country is back!
Here is the 2025 preseason edition of the NCAA DI Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, which was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday. USTFCCCA polls and rankings are presented by AthleticNET.
NCAA Division I — Men’s Cross Country
This Week’s National Top Five
1
Iowa State
2
New Mexico
3
Oklahoma State
4
BYU
5
Wisconsin
Cross Country Polls & Rankings
Iowa State is projected to win its first national title since 1994. How long ago was 1994? Well, 31 years ago, “The Sign” by Ace of Bass topped the Billboard Year-End Hot 100, Forrest Gump and The Lion King were two of the year’s biggest movies, and Sony debuted the PlayStation. Expectations are justifiably high for the Cyclones, who received seven of 11 possible first-place votes from the electorate and top the poll for the first time since at least 2007. Iowa State returns six of seven athletes from a team that finished a close runner-up to BYU last year in Madison, Wisconsin. The Cyclones also add or add back several athletes, namely Rodgers Kiplimo, who was an All-American on the grass circuit back in 2023 for them and most recently finished fourth in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships this past spring.
New Mexico caught the eye of the electorate, too, and enters the 2025 season ranked second for its highest ranking in program history. The Lobos return 2024 individual runner-up Habtom Samuel, as well as fellow All-American Collins Kiprotich, among others. Samuel hit another level on the track in 2025, lowering his PRs to 13:04.92 for 5k and 26:51.06 for 10k. New Mexico also has five other returners at its disposal who clocked 5k marks at 13:40 or faster in 2025.
2023 national champion Oklahoma State sits third to begin the season after collecting the lone remaining first-place vote. The Cowboys, who finished a disappointing eighth last year, return five athletes from that squad, including top-15 finishers Brian Musau (fifth) and Denis Kipngetich (11th). Both Musau and Kipngetich continued to prove their mettle on the track, as Musau swept the NCAA 5k titles and Kipngetich improved his PRs to 13:30.95 for 5k and 27:20.10 for 10k.
Defending national champion BYU starts the season three spots lower than where it finished in 2024. The Cougars, who come in ranked fourth, only return two athletes from that championship squad – James Corrigan and Davin Thompson. Both Corrigan and Thompson were All-America performers at some point in their careers (2023 for Corrigan; 2022 for Thompson), and Corrigan most recently won the NCAA steeplechase title, running a PR 8:16.41 in the process. BYU adds several standouts, namely Stanford’s Thomas Boyden and prep standout Tayvon Kitchen.
Wisconsin is ranked fifth ahead of the 2025 campaign, tying its best preseason billing since 2015. The Badgers, who were fourth on their home course last November, were hit hard by graduation, losing Rowen Ellenberg, Bob Liking, and Adam Spencer. However, Wisconsin returns two athletes who finished among the top-60 athletes last year – Micah Wilson (53rd) and Matan Ivri (58th) – and saw a big jump from several athletes during the track season, namely Johnny Livingstone who went 13:36.18 for 5k and 28:24.77 for 10k.
Stanford and Virginia enter the season tied for sixth, while Notre Dame, Oregon, and Wake Forest round out the top ten. The Cavaliers have never been ranked this high in any edition of the National Coaches’ Poll, according to our data which goes back to 2005.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 22, because that’s when the 2025 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships will be held at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.
