We Speak Sports

Conference Championship Weekend Arrives for College Cross Country

ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 titles are all on the line Oct. 30-31 as college cross country hits its first postseason peak.

Published

9 hours ago

October 22, 2026

Royal Jones

The men's field charges out at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Wisconsin

College cross country reaches its first postseason peak next weekend, when nearly every major conference crowns its champions on Oct. 30 and 31.

Friday, Oct. 30 is stacked. The Big Ten Championships return to Wisconsin’s Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, with the women’s 6K at 10:35 a.m. CT and the men’s 8K at 11:35 a.m., live on Big Ten Network. The ACC races the same day at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, the SEC runs at Columbia, Missouri, the Mountain West heads to Reno and the Big East races in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

On Saturday, Oct. 31, Oklahoma State hosts the Big 12 Championships in Stillwater, where the top-ranked BYU women will chase a fourth straight conference title. The American Athletic meets in New Orleans and the Ivy League’s Heps run in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

The storylines are rich. NC State’s women, ranked No. 2, will defend their ACC crown without injured stars Grace Hartman and Sadie Engelhardt, who coach Laurie Henes has confirmed will miss the meet. Syracuse’s men arrive at the ACC meet fresh off a Pre-Nationals title, and unanimous No. 1 New Mexico headlines the Mountain West.

The next USTFCCCA national poll drops Nov. 2, regionals follow on Nov. 13, and the NCAA Championships close the season on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Photo: Track & Field News

Related Topics:ACC Big 12 Big Ten BYU Cougars Conference Championships NC State Wolfpack NCAA Cross Country SEC Track and field

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Royal Jones

We Speak College Football

Saturday of Chaos: Five of the AP Top Seven Fall for the First Time Since 1936

Published

32 minutes ago

October 22, 2026

Royal Jones

Tennessee celebrates its 26-10 win over Alabama — the signature result on a Saturday when five of the AP top seven lost.

College football has been playing with an AP poll since 1936. It had never seen a Saturday like this one: five of the top seven teams in the country — No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas — all lost on the same regular-season day, and the top two teams lost on the same day for the first time since Nov. 17, 2012. For the second straight week, the nation’s No. 1 team fell to an unranked opponent, something that hadn’t happened since 1990.

The carnage: Auburn beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24 in Athens on a field goal as time expired, the Tigers’ first win there in 31 years. BYU toppled No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 in Provo behind four total touchdowns from Bear Bachmeier, ending the Irish’s 16-game winning streak. Ohio State survived Indiana 19-15 in Bloomington, snapping the Hoosiers’ 22-game winning streak — but lost quarterback Julian Sayin to a shoulder injury. Tennessee’s defense strangled No. 6 Alabama 26-10 in Knoxville, holding the Crimson Tide to 201 yards. And Florida went into Austin and beat No. 7 Texas 27-24 behind first-time starter Tramell Jones Jr.

The survivors: No. 3 Miami needed two overtimes to escape Florida State 43-35 in a rivalry classic. No. 9 Ole Miss routed No. 13 Missouri 31-3, LSU blanked No. 16 Mississippi State 31-0, No. 10 Texas Tech hung 53 on Arizona State, and No. 15 Kentucky rallied to win 21-13 at Oklahoma. Michigan benched Bryce Underwood and still beat Penn State 21-18. Elsewhere, Utah edged Colorado 27-24, UCLA beat Wisconsin 17-7, Houston outlasted Oklahoma State 35-32, SMU topped Virginia 23-13, Wake Forest routed Cal 41-7, Oregon held off Nebraska 17-14, and Washington beat Purdue 38-26 on Friday night.

The new AP Top 25 tells the story of the shakeup: Miami is No. 1 with 40 first-place votes, BYU is No. 2 (20 first-place votes) and Ohio State No. 3 (9). Notre Dame sits fourth, Georgia fifth, Indiana sixth, followed by Ole Miss, Texas Tech, UCLA and Utah. Tennessee climbs to No. 11 and Kentucky to No. 12, while Alabama tumbles to No. 13, LSU rises to No. 18, Texas falls to No. 19 and Florida cracks the poll at No. 20. Missouri (No. 22), SMU (No. 23), Northwestern (No. 24) and Arizona (No. 25) round out the rankings.

Week 8 has a lot to live up to.