There’s no other image I liked more last season than watching the men's team race at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. It’s like if parades didn’t always suck and the Tour de France wasn’t a beautiful farce.

The men’s team race at Wisconsin is one to watch for four reasons: (1) other than NCAAs, it’s the most competitive race in the country as 18 ranked teams will be in Madison, (2) it’s too late in the season for coaches to say that they’re holding runners back, (3) it’s fan-friendly and fast, (4) the first reason, again.

We’ll breakdown the men’s team battle below. Since there’ll be four teams standing atop the podium in Terre Haute (we’re not talking about this weekend), we’ll give you our predictions for the top four in Madison and why. We’ll throw in one dark horse too because some teams have underperformed and we think that something big might happen this Saturday. We’ll also include every ranked team’s latest race, FloRatings, and overall squad heading into the showdown on the Thomas Zimmer XC Course.

The Podium Teams - NAU, Arkansas, BYU, and Portland

#3 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks

Hopefully by the time you’re reading this, you’ve already watched NAU’s Workout Wednesday. It’s a doozy.

You all know the story of last year when NAU stunned everyone to make the podium at NCAAs. This fall is a bit different with them returning everyone, targets on their back etcetera etcetera.

The Lumberjacks rested Matt McElroy, Nathan Weitz, and OSU transfer Korey Krotzer at the Cowboy Jamboree, but still packed a bunch with super sophomore and reigning FloAwards Frosh of the Year Futsum Zienasellassie and senior Brian Shrader. Does the FloAward title last for a whole year? Stuart Scott says yes.

4   24:30.67    Futsum ZienasellassieNorthern Arizona   214.1   Cowboy Jamboree
5   24:32.53    Brian Shrader        Northern Arizona   213.4   Cowboy Jamboree
9   24:58.02    Caleb Hoover         Northern Arizona   205.1   Cowboy Jamboree
14  25:06.04    Andy Trouard         Northern Arizona   202.4   Cowboy Jamboree
27  25:16.03    Alejandro Montano    Northern Arizona   199.1   Cowboy Jamboree
30  25:23.02    Josh Hardin          Northern Arizona   196.8   Cowboy Jamboree
32  25:38.27    Cody Reed            Northern Arizona   191.8   Cowboy Jamboree

#6 Arkansas Razorbacks

Hopefully by the time you’re reading this, Alex Lohr is back from Fayetteville, AR. I don’t how he does the Monday travel somewhere - Tuesday film a workout - Wednesday Fly back to Flotrack HQ - Thursday travel somewhere - Weekend cross country schedule - repeat, but he does. Apparently the Razorbacks saved us a solid workout, which will be great for us next week and terrifying for other teams this week.

It’s crazy to think that Arkansas didn’t make the meet two years ago, placed tenth last year, and are now ranked even higher this season.

Now that they get to race in a non-rained out course, it’ll be interesting to see how Arkansas fares. Their top five spread at the inclement Chile Pepper Invitational was about 1:28. We figured some guys had an off-day while Kemoy Campbell did something near-impossible and took it to the defending NCAA champion Kennedy Kithuka. There’ll be more on Campbell in our individual preview, but for now second looks like a good spot for Arkansas.

You may be ask why we put Arkansas second rather than third, which would make sense based on their national ranking. On paper, third is where they should place at Wisconsin. Here's why that's not the case.

Not only does Campbell offer more than Thatchor as a low-stick, but we think that Arkansas has more in the tank as a team. Kebenei looked really strong and Haile may inch even closer to the front rather than being a lone third man. This may sound ridiculous, but we were tempted for all of five seconds to put them ahead of NAU. Seriously.

2         23:34.8 Kemoy Campbell           Arkansas              225.7  Chile Pepper
3         24:08.0 Stanley Kebenei          Arkansas              214.7  Chile Pepper
5         24:27.6 Solomon Haile            Arkansas              208.1  Chile Pepper
9         24:47.6 Gabe Gonzales            Arkansas              201.5  Chile Pepper
12        25:05.5 Raymond Joseph           Arkansas              195.5  Chile Pepper
18        25:20.6 David Flynn              Arkansas              190.5  Chile Pepper
25        25:32.8 Patrick Rono             Arkansas              186.4  Chile Pepper
30        25:49.2 Aidan Swain              Arkansas              180.9  Chile Pepper
36        25:56.4 Arch Robertson           Arkansas              178.5  Chile Pepper
38        25:56.7 Cale Wallace             Arkansas              178.4  Chile Pepper
57        26:36.2 Noah Findlay             Arkansas              165.3  Chile Pepper

#5 BYU Cougars

Perhaps the deepest team in the NCAA comes in at the third spot. BYU’s Tylor Thatcher has looked solid all season with wins at BYU’s Autumn Classic (over a good Portland duo) and the Roy Griak Invitational (over a Adams State duo). Behind him is Jason Witt (seventh at Roy Griak) and a group of about five who make up the Cougar’s final three scoring spots.

Here’s a slightly related fun fact: Jared Ward was going to return to BYU this fall, but couldn’t get a sixth year from the NCAA. Instead, he altered his training a bit and ran the Chicago Marathon last weekend and ran 2:16:18 (19th). It's like they have a coach with marathon experience or something.

1            24:25.2     Tylor Thatcher       Brigham Young      209.0      Roy Griak
7            24:33.2     Jason Witt           Brigham Young      206.3      Roy Griak
15           24:45.2     Aaron Fletcher       Brigham Young      202.3      Roy Griak
17           24:46.1     Thomas Gruenewald    Brigham Young      202.0      Roy Griak
22           24:50.4     Jonathan Nelson      Brigham Young      200.6      Roy Griak
23           24:51.8     Steve Flint          Brigham Young      200.1      Roy Griak
29           24:59.2     Spencer Gardner      Brigham Young      197.7      Roy Griak
38           25:07.0     Taylor Farnsworth    Brigham Young      195.1      Roy Griak
62           25:22.0     Dylan Shawhan        Brigham Young      190.1      Roy Griak
88           25:39.4     James Tracy          Brigham Young      184.3      Roy Griak
158          26:14.0     Brandon Doolin       Brigham Young      172.7      Roy Griak

#7 Portland Pilots

We love to talk about Portland and BYU in the same breath. How much hype is there at the WCC XC Championships every year?

We’ve already mentioned the Portland duo, but now we’ll go into some specifics. Scott Fauble and William Kincaid might have sat out at Bill Dellinger (as did the rest of their top five), but the Pilots will be at full strength this weekend.

Fauble and Kincaid were clutch for Portland last year at the WCC Championships, where they both finished less than a second in front of Thatcher to place second and third, respectively. They were rewarded for their finish line heroics as Portland triumphed over BYU by just a point.

We’re excited to see senior Charlie McDonald, junior David Perry (13:58 for 5k), junior Ryan Poland (29:30 10k transfer from Oklahoma), and sophomore Robert Krebs (29:21 10k from Germany).

Also, how do you not love a team that screams happiness?

RC and 7 Pilots headed to Provo for XC equivalent of "friendly" with BYU and others. @scottfaubs @ryanpoland1 et al. pic.twitter.com/3FSmgf8awu

— Portland Pilots XC (@GrapeCrushXC) September 13, 2013

14        24:36:0 Chris Borg               PORTLAND              191.7  Bill Dellinger
18        24:41:0 Cody Wells               PORTLAND              190.0  Bill Dellinger
19        24:42:0 Alex Dillard             PORTLAND              189.7  Bill Dellinger
23        24:46:0 Danny Martinez           PORTLAND              188.3  Bill Dellinger
31        24:59:0 Timo Goehler             PORTLAND              184.0  Bill Dellinger
38        25:11:0 Griffin Hay              PORTLAND              180.0  Bill Dellinger
43        25:17:0 Josh Gorecki             PORTLAND              178.0  Bill Dellinger
58        25:45:0 Stephen Kersh            PORTLAND              168.7  Bill Dellinger
60        25:46:0 Alex Bowns               PORTLAND              168.3  Bill Dellinger
67        26:01:0 Sean O'Hollearn          PORTLAND              163.3  Bill Dellinger
76        26:15:0 Connor Whan              PORTLAND              158.7  Bill Dellinger

#25 New Mexico Lobos

Even after a disappointing sixth place finish at Notre Dame, we still have some faith in the Lobos. While Luke Caldwell is and has been the real deal Holyfield for UNM, some key members behind him have struggled either racing-wise or health-wise. 13:36 man Ross Millington has been apparently hurt and the team really couldn’t find someone to close the door at their last big race.

The team has the talent and coaching to be successful, though. There’s something special brewing in ABQ and no it’s not a Breaking Bad reference. Don’t let their drop in the national rankings fool you.

2         24:22.3 LUKE CALDWELL            NEW MEXICO            211.6  Notre Dame
28        24:56.4 PAT ZACHARIAS            NEW MEXICO            200.2  Notre Dame
29        24:59.1 ADAM BITCHELL            NEW MEXICO            199.3  Notre Dame
55        25:20.6 GRAHAM THOMAS            NEW MEXICO            192.1  Notre Dame
88        25:41.1 ROSS MATHESON            NEW MEXICO            185.3  Notre Dame
111       25:54.3 ALEX CORNWELL            NEW MEXICO            180.9  Notre Dame
140       26:14.7 ELMAR ENGHOLM            NEW MEXICO            174.1  Notre Dame
169       26:43.1 JAKE SHELLEY             NEW MEXICO            164.6  Notre Dame
174       26:48.4 SEAN STAM                NEW MEXICO            162.9  Notre Dame

Things of Interest - Columbia, Wisconsin, and The Top 15

Here’s a quick preview of all the other ranked teams that’ll be in Madison, WI this Saturday. The numbers below are everyone's place at that meet, time, and FloRating. Before we leave you with all of the raw data, there's a few things we want to mention. We haven't mentioned that we're excited to see how Columbia does on an even bigger stage and possibly more importantly, how Wisconsin does on its own turf.

Also, don't be surprised if NAU and Arkansas place a combined total of six in the top 15. Book it, done.

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#8 Columbia
12   24:42.0 NICO COMPOSTO            COLUMBIA              205.0  Notre Dame
13   24:42.2 JAKE SIENKO              COLUMBIA              204.9  Notre Dame
14   24:42.9 DANIEL EVERETT           COLUMBIA              204.7  Notre Dame
24   24:53.1 JOHN GREGOREK            COLUMBIA              201.3  Notre Dame
50   25:15.4 JACK BOYLE               COLUMBIA              193.9  Notre Dame
66   25:26.9 BEN GOLESTAN             COLUMBIA              190.0  Notre Dame
127  26:07.3 PAUL ROSS                COLUMBIA              176.6  Notre Dame
172  26:45.7 DUSTIN WILSON            COLUMBIA              163.8  Notre Dame
201  27:48.9 DANIEL NESTOR            COLUMBIA              142.7  Notre Dame

#11 Syracuse
3       24:12.0     MARTIN HEHIR         Syracuse           206.1      Battle in Beantown
14      24:29.0     REED KAMYSZEK        Syracuse           200.4      Battle in Beantown
16      24:37.0     RYAN URIE            Syracuse           197.7      Battle in Beantown
17      24:39.0     MJ ERB               Syracuse           197.1      Battle in Beantown
19      24:43.0     GRIFF GRAVES         Syracuse           195.7      Battle in Beantown
20      24:43.0     DAN LENNON           Syracuse           195.7      Battle in Beantown
22      24:51.0     ROBERT MOLKE         Syracuse           193.1      Battle in Beantown
27      25:03.0     JURIS SILENIEKS      Syracuse           189.1      Battle in Beantown
28      25:07.0     MAX STRANEVA         Syracuse           187.7      Battle in Beantown
31      25:09.0     JOEL HUBBARD         Syracuse           187.1      Battle in Beantown
35      25:11.0     KEVYN HOYOS          Syracuse           186.4      Battle in Beantown
43      25:21.0     ANDREW BENNISON      Syracuse           183.1      Battle in Beantown
49      25:29.0     JOE KUSH             Syracuse           180.4      Battle in Beantown
89      26:15.0     DAVID WILSON         Syracuse           165.1      Battle in Beantown

#12 Indiana
11   24:12  Jr Ricker                Indiana University    197.7  Paul Short
14   24:23  Robby Nierman            Indiana University    194.0  Paul Short
16   24:25  Rorey Hunter             Indiana University    193.3  Paul Short
22   24:30  Carl Smith               Indiana University    191.7  Paul Short
31   24:38  Evan Esselink            Indiana University    189.0  Paul Short
34   24:39  Nolan Fife               Indiana University    188.7  Paul Short
41   24:45  Matthew Schwartzer       Indiana University    186.7  Paul Short
132  25:38  Thomas - Jerem Coughler  Indiana University    169.0  Paul Short
195  26:01  Joshua Roche             Indiana University    161.3  Paul Short
242  26:20  Owen Skeete              Indiana University    155.0  Paul Short

#13 North Carolina
4     23:53.6     John Raneri          North Carolina     199.7      Panorama Farms
11    24:03.4     Pat Schellberg       North Carolina     196.5      Panorama Farms
12    24:03.7     Joe Sansone          North Carolina     196.4      Panorama Farms
13    24:05.1     Ryan Walling         North Carolina     195.9      Panorama Farms
18    24:09.3     Isaac Presson        North Carolina     194.5      Panorama Farms
24    24:16.7     Matt Valeriani       North Carolina     192.0      Panorama Farms
39    24:38.2     Steve Magnuson       North Carolina     184.9      Panorama Farms
40    24:38.8     Scott Morgan         North Carolina     184.7      Panorama Farms
70    25:28.3     Stephen Mulherin     North Carolina     168.2      Panorama Farms

#14 Texas

#16 Eastern Kentucky
1     23:22.4     Soufiane Bouchikhi   Eastern Kentucky   210.1      Panorama Farms
6     23:57.0     Ambrose Maritim      Eastern Kentucky   198.6      Panorama Farms
17    24:09.2     Wade Meddles         Eastern Kentucky   194.5      Panorama Farms
25    24:18.1     Ole Hesselbjerg      Eastern Kentucky   191.6      Panorama Farms
27    24:19.6     Thijs Nijhuis        Eastern Kentucky   191.1      Panorama Farms
35    24:34.7     Erwin Leysen         Eastern Kentucky   186.0      Panorama Farms
48    24:51.7     Sean Vandermosten    Eastern Kentucky   180.4      Panorama Farms
57    25:05.5     Ben Turner           Eastern Kentucky   175.8      Panorama Farms
67    25:24.3     Adams Ronnoh         Eastern Kentucky   169.5      Panorama Farms
95    26:17.2     Kyle Burton          Eastern Kentucky   151.9      Panorama Farms

#20 Wisconsin
10    24:23.0     MICHAEL VANVOORHIS   Wisconsin          202.4      Battle in Beantown
12    24:27.0     MALACHY SCHROBILGEN  Wisconsin          201.1      Battle in Beantown
13    24:27.0     ALEX BRILL           Wisconsin          201.1      Battle in Beantown
26    25:02.0     JAKE ERSCHEN         Wisconsin          189.4      Battle in Beantown
29    25:08.0     ALEX HATZ            Wisconsin          187.4      Battle in Beantown
48    25:27.0     JACOB NAYLOR         Wisconsin          181.1      Battle in Beantown
54    25:37.0     DREW SHIELDS         Wisconsin          177.7      Battle in Beantown
72    25:56.0     MATT MCKENNA         Wisconsin          171.4      Battle in Beantown

#21 UCLA

58       3   23:35:0 Sergey Sushchickh        UCLA      198.3  Sacramento
111      9   23:52:0 Daniel Herrera           UCLA      192.7  Sacramento
116      11  23:54:0 Nick Hartle              UCLA      192.0  Sacramento
151      15  24:00:0 Patrick Douglas          UCLA      190.0  Sacramento
186      17  24:07:0 Dustin Fay               UCLA      187.7  Sacramento
242      21  24:19:0 Michael McCabe           UCLA      183.7  Sacramento
338      29  24:36:0 Zack Torres              UCLA      178.0  Sacramento
401      38  24:47:0 Jonah Diaz               UCLA      174.3  Sacramento
441      43  24:53:0 Chase Zukerman           UCLA      172.3  Sacramento
447      44  24:54:0 Jacob Wood               UCLA      172.0  Sacramento
509      52  25:03:0 Nathaniel Cushing-Murray UCLA      169.0  Sacramento
623      68  25:19:0 Austin O'Neil            UCLA      163.7  Sacramento

#22 Minnesota
4    24:31.7 JOHN SIMONS              MINNESOTA             208.4  Notre Dame
34   25:03.8 ADAM ZUTZ                MINNESOTA             197.7  Notre Dame
36   25:05.0 ANDREW LARSEN            MINNESOTA             197.3  Notre Dame
37   25:06.4 STEVE SULKIN             MINNESOTA             196.9  Notre Dame
44   25:11.7 BLAYNE DULIAN            MINNESOTA             195.1  Notre Dame
56   25:22.2 DEREK STORKEL            MINNESOTA             191.6  Notre Dame
58   25:23.7 ALEX BREND               MINNESOTA             191.1  Notre Dame
117  25:58.1 RILEY MACON              MINNESOTA             179.6  Notre Dame
125  26:05.8 CHRISTIAN SKARET         MINNESOTA             177.1  Notre Dame

#24 Georgetown
4     23:52  Andrew Springer          Georgetown University 204.3  Paul Short
10    24:12  Brian King               Georgetown University 197.7  Paul Short
21    24:30  Bobby Peavey             Georgetown University 191.7  Paul Short
37    24:40  Collin Leibold           Georgetown University 188.3  Paul Short
42    24:46  John Murray              Georgetown University 186.3  Paul Short
57    24:54  Ryan Gil                 Georgetown University 183.7  Paul Short
75    25:08  Austin Gregor            Georgetown University 179.0  Paul Short
84    25:16  Ahmed Bile               Georgetown University 176.3  Paul Short
172   25:52  Matt Howard              Georgetown University 164.3  Paul Short
277   26:35  Nick Rowe                Georgetown University 150.0  Paul Short

#26 Florida

#27 Dartmouth
3     23:46  Will Geoghegan           Dartmouth College     206.3  Paul Short
8     24:05  John Bleday              Dartmouth College     200.0  Paul Short
26    24:33  Henry Sterling           Dartmouth College     190.7  Paul Short
29    24:38  Silas Talbot             Dartmouth College     189.0  Paul Short
44    24:46  Curtis King              Dartmouth College     186.3  Paul Short
103   25:25  Dylan O'Sullivan         Dartmouth College     173.3  Paul Short
120   25:32  Steve Mangan             Dartmouth College     171.0  Paul Short
175   25:53  Brian Masterson          Dartmouth College     164.0  Paul Short
253   26:26  Tim Gorman               Dartmouth College     153.0  Paul Short

#28 Notre Dame
5      24:33.9 JEREMY RAE               NOTRE DAME            207.7  Notre Dame
32     25:02.3 MARTIN GRADY             NOTRE DAME            198.2  Notre Dame
59     25:24.4 J.P. MALETTE             NOTRE DAME            190.9  Notre Dame
63     25:25.8 WALTER SCHAFER           NOTRE DAME            190.4  Notre Dame
77     25:34.3 PATRICK LESIEWICZ        NOTRE DAME            187.6  Notre Dame
81     25:38.0 JAKE KILDOO              NOTRE DAME            186.3  Notre Dame
90     25:41.9 MICHAEL CLEVENGER        NOTRE DAME            185.0  Notre Dame
133    26:10.6 DJ THORNTON              NOTRE DAME            175.5  Notre Dame
166    26:38.9 KEVIN DURHAM             NOTRE DAME            166.0  Notre Dame

#30 Arizona State
11      24:42.2     Garrett Seawell      Arizona State      203.3      Roy Griak
27      24:57.1     Ryan Herson          Arizona State      198.4      Roy Griak
28      24:58.8     Bernie Montoya       Arizona State      197.8      Roy Griak
36      25:05.7     Steven Schnieders    Arizona State      195.5      Roy Griak
37      25:06.2     Garrett Baker-Slama  Arizona State      195.3      Roy Griak
87      25:38.9     Daniel Wong          Arizona State      184.4      Roy Griak
121     25:56.3     Jeff Bickert         Arizona State      178.6      Roy Griak
139     26:05.8     Ryan Norton          Arizona State      175.5      Roy Griak