WATCH THE 2016 DI NCAA XC CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE ON FLOTRACK -- SATURDAY 11/19!

Check out the final breakdowns for each women's team heading to the NCAA Cross Country Championships this Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana. Here are the previews for teams 31-21 in the men's race.

No. 31 Texas 

Region: South Central, 2nd
Conference: Big 12, 3rd

Someone has to get last, and Texas was last by 226 points a year ago. (For comparison, 30th-place Mississippi was 201 points out of 12th place.) They put three runners in the bottom nine and five in the bottom 27. Whatever happens, they won't do worse than that this year. The Longhorns ran extremely well at regionals, as six of their seven men were with seven places of their Arkansas counterpart. If they run like that in Terre Haute, they won't get last. 

No. 30 Providence

Region: Northeast, 4th
Conference: BIG EAST, 2nd

When I talked to coach Ray Treacy in late September, he knew exactly what his men had to do: spend the regular season racking up points. And that's what they did, beating Arkansas at the Battle in Beantown, Texas and NC State at Notre Dame, and NC State at Wisconsin. Scratching out those four wins got Providence into the meet. 

But it's been a rough November, as the Friars only beat Butler by four points at conferences and Columbia by three at regionals. If Columbia covered that three-point gap, Providence would have been permanently blocked from the meet.

No. 29 Navy

Region: Mideast, 2nd
Conference: Patriot League, 1st

29th is probably underselling Navy a little, as they were only eight points behind No. 20 Georgetown at regionals. On the other hand, at Paul Short, they lost to DII Adams State and non-qualifiers Penn and Columbia. However Navy runs, they'll be happy to be in Terre Haute---it's their first time making nationals since 1997.

No. 28 Dartmouth

Region: Northeast, 3rd
Conference: Ivy League, 4th

Dartmouth made the NCAA meet by nearly the thinnest margin possible--they beat Providence by one point and got pushed in by the Friars. (It's not the thinnest margin possible, because even if Providence scored one fewer point, Dartmouth would have beaten them on tiebreakers.) 

Regionals was their best meet in months, as they scored fewer points and placed higher than they did at their conference meet. But Dartmouth has had the talent all season, as they beat Providence and a (depleted) Arkansas team in Boston in September.

No. 27 Boise State

Region: West, 7th
Conference: Mountain West, 1st

Which Boise State shows up? The team that beat No. 14 Colorado at the Mountain West Conference and No. 10 UCLA at Roy Griak, or the team that was just four points out of ninth at the West Region and was 15th at Wisconsin? It could depend on the conditions in Terre Haute. The MWC meet was in Boise at mild elevation, and the Griak race was a muddy, hilly grinder. Crappy conditions could help the Broncos on Saturday.

No. 26 California

Region: West, 6th
Conference: Pac-12, 6th

Cal got pushed in by beating Boise State. They haven't beaten anyone else in the field since September, but they were within 66 points of Oregon and Washington State at regionals, so they can hang at nationals on a good day. Unlike a lot of teams that will be in the 20s, they go seven deep, meaning they can weather a bad day or two.

No. 25 Middle Tennessee State

Region: South, 2nd
Conference: Conference USA, 2nd

It's MTSU's first time ever at XC nationals, and their entire top five is underclassmen, so their big year is next year. But with definitely one and maybe two low sticks in Jacob Choge and Kigen Chemadi, the Blue Raiders could make some noise this year.

No. 24 Iowa State

Region: Midwest, 4th
Conference: Big 12, 2nd

The Cyclones have two freshmen (Thomas Pollard and Andrew Jordan) in their top four and sometimes their top three. Relying on freshmen this late in the year can go either way, as the young bucks can fall apart from the grind of the season or run out of their minds as they figure out the switch from 5K to 8K to 10K. 

No. 23 Southern Utah

Region: Mountain, 6th
Conference: Big Sky, 2nd

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds, in the words of the great Dennis Green, are who we thought they were. They put two runners between Northern Arizona's No. 6 and 7 at Wisconsin and Big Sky. It seems pretty clear that NAU cruised at the Mountain Region, but SUU did do a little better there, putting four runners between NAU's No. 3 and No. 6. They are a solid top-25 team, and if they are on and enough teams are off, they can crack the top 20. 

No. 22 Illinois

Region: Midwest, 3rd
Conference: Big 10, 6th

After lackluster runs at Wisconsin (27th out of 30) and Big 10s (6th out of 12), Illinois ran to their ability at regionals. It wasn't a fluke---in September, they beat No. 23 Southern Utah and No. 19 Washington State at Notre Dame. This is the first time Illinois has made nationals since 1986, but they shouldn't have another 30-year wait. Behind senior No. 1 Dylan LaFond, the Illini have two freshmen and two sophomores in their top five.

No. 21 NC State

Region: Southeast, 1st
Conference: ACC, 3rd

The Wolfpack turned in one of the most clutch performances of regionals day, beating Virginia by 15 and Furman by 16 to win the Southeast Region and automatically qualify for nationals. If they scored just 16 more points, they likely would have been locked out of NCAAs. How they do in Terre Haute will be contingent on how their top five runs. Only six of their men finished at regionals, and there was over a minute between No. 5 Elijah Moskowitz and No. 6 Phillip Hall.

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