The Big 12 Championship will be live on FloTrack on Saturday, October 29. We preview the men's race below; the men run at noon ET on Saturday.

TEAM

Saucony Flo50 teams: No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 16 Iowa State
Other potential NCAA players: Texas, Baylor

​Update 10/26: ​Cerake Geberkidane posted on Instagram today that he would not be racing at the Big 12 meet. Our original preview appears below.

The main question is Oklahoma State's top four. Josh Thompson and Hassan Abdi will probably finish in the top five--they were 2-3 in a tough field at Penn State--but Sylvester Barus and Cerake Geberkidane are bigger question marks. Barus won the Cowboy Jamboree, beating Thompson, but was just 17th at Penn State. And Geberkidane was 11th in the NCAA outdoor 5K and is a 13:51 man, but he hasn't raced yet this fall. He could make his season debut on Saturday.

If Thompson, Abdi, Barus, and Geberkidane are running to their full potential, the Cowboys will win their ninth straight conference title. (Out of the 20 Big 12 XC meets ever, Colorado won the first 12 races and OSU won the past eight. That's it.) Oklahoma State's top six is simply too strong: In addition to a potentially brilliant top four, Luis Martinez and Anthoney Armstrong were less than 20 seconds behind Thompson at Penn State. That's unbeatable depth at this conference meet.

But if Geberkidane doesn't run and Barus runs like he did at Penn State--or worse--the door is open for Iowa State. The Cyclones had a breakout race at Wisconsin, taking eighth and only finishing 20 points behind Flo50 No. 7 Iona. And like Oklahoma State, Iowa State has the potential to run even better. Dan Curts, the only man on the ISU roster to have ever run at the NCAA XC meet, hasn't raced since September 2. Top returner Nathan Rodriguez hasn't raced at all this season.

Iowa State has instead been led by transfer Kevyn Hoyos, who never made the top seven in three cross country seasons at Syracuse. Hoyos would have been the Orange's No. 3 man at Wisconsin and was the Big 12's top finisher there. Martin Smith's Cyclones haven't made NCAAs since 2009, and trying to end Oklahoma State's winning streak will be a good first test of this group's postseason mettle as it tries to make it back.

Kolas implications

Texas and Baylor both have a pretty good shot at qualifying out of the South Central. Iowa State and Oklahoma State (plus Kansas and/or Oklahoma if they really run out of their minds at regionals) could always use extra points as a backstop heading into the tough Midwest region.

INDIVIDUALS

Saucony Flo50 individuals: No. 12 Hassan Abdi, No. 18 Joshua Thompson (both Oklahoma State)

The top three returners are Geberkidane, Oklahoma's Jacob Burcham, and Iowa State's Toby Hardwick. But Geberkidane and Burcham haven't raced yet this year, and Hardwick was just 97th at Wisconsin. If Geberkidane and Burcham run, their credentials are so strong that they're co-favorites with Abdi and Thompson if they toe the line. We ranked Burcham No. 13 nationally in our preseason Flo50.

If they don't toe the line, then Iowa State's Hoyos and Thomas Pollard are probably the two biggest challengers to Abdi and Thompson. The two Cyclones were 21st and 25th at Wisconsin, making them the conference's top two finishers there. Steeplechase All-American Dylan Blankenbaker was 34th at Pre-Nationals, making him the first Big 12 man across the line at the meet.

There is a small possibility that the OSU and ISU runners run conservatively to protect their shots at a team title. In that case, a major underdog could break away early and never get caught. The meet is at mild elevation--3,600 feet--in Lubbock, Texas, which could throw a funky variable into the race. We'll see on Saturday.

Watch the 2016 Big 12 XC Championship LIVE on 10/29 starting at 10:00am CT with the women's race, and finishing up after the 11:00am CT men's race!

How to Watch

STREAMING: Available only on FloTrack - $20 monthly or $150 yearly. Yearly FloPRO access is to ALL FloSports sites. SIGN UP HERE
On TV: Now available on Roku & Apple TV 4

• Join FloPRO now for access to the best track content on the planet! Get live streams, original documentaries, technique videos and more.