While US#1 Oklahoma State, US#2 Colorado and US#4 Oregon test their fitness at NCAA Pre-Nationals this weekend, two states away 20 of the top 30 teams in the country will be squaring off, looking to score some at-large points and prove their worth against elite competition.

With tremendous depth in both the team and individual races, the Wisconsin showcase will once again prove to be a defining part of the season as teams charge forward towards conference and regional races.

Here’s the breakdown. 

Men’s Team Race

Entering Saturday’s meet, US#3 Northern Arizona is looking to jump back onto the top spot on the trophy stand. After finishing runner-up to US#1 Oklahoma State at the Cowboy Jamboree a few weeks back, NAU is the pre-race favorite at Wisconsin. Leading the charge for the Lumberjacks are Futsum Zienasellassie and Brian Shrader. The two frontrunners give this squad an immediate presence up front, but Matt McElroy, who didn’t run at OSU, is the man to watch. An early season victory showed his fitness, now we’ll hopefully get to see it in a race with depth.

Falling in just behind Northern Arizona, US#5 BYU and US#6 Arkansas are both poised to challenge for the win. BYU has depth, and with ninth runners allowed in the race from each squad, the Cougars can use that to their advantage. Led by Tylor Thatcher, who’s having a breakout season, BYU has both firepower up top and depth that makes them a scary challenger.

Meanwhile, Arkansas enters a bit of an underdog. The Razorbacks haven’t been discussed much nationally, as Saturday’s race will be the first time the squad has faced top-five competition this season. Kemoy Campbell, Stanley Kebenei and Solomon Haile lead Arkansas, giving them a trio of talent up top to rival NAU. Where Arkansas still holds some questions is in the 4-5 spot.

US#7 Portland and US#8 Columbia both look to break into the top three. Portland lost a close battle to BYU at the Autumn Classic earlier this season (25-33). William Kincaid and Scott Fauble lead a tight pack, which saw a 1-5 split at BYU of 26.9 seconds.

Columbia, after besting the field at the Notre Dame Invitational, looks to continue their momentum. The trio of Nico Composto, Jake Sienko and Daniel Everett finished a mere ninth-tenths of a second apart from one another at Notre Dame. More pack running like that, while bringing their 4-5 runners a bit closer, could mean a challenge for the win.

Similar to BYU, US#11 Syracuse offers depth few squads can match. At the Boston College Invite earlier this season, they finished second to current US#4 Oregon. Martin Hehir is showing he’s a potential All-American runner this fall, while an astounding 11 runners ran a 59 second split in Boston. Wow!

US#12 Indiana will once again challenge for top five. The Hoosiers would like nothing better than to make a statement on their rival Badgers’ home course, as they look to carry a boatload of momentum into Big Tens. Indiana ran a sparkling 26-second split at the Paul Short Invitational.

US#13 North Carolina, led by John Raneri, could challenge for a top five finish on a good day, while US#14 Texas will follow the lead of top-level talent Craig Lutz. US#16 Eastern Kentucky, US#17 Providence and host US#20 Wisconsin round out of the field of a dozen top 20 ranked teams in the field.

Top team battles are of course the storyline of Saturday’s event, but it’s all about building momentum as the post-season nears. NAU, BYU and Arkansas will show their full set of cards in Wisconsin, lining up to be trophy threats in less than two months. Here we go!

Men’s Individual Race

We’re unsure if University of Arizona standout Lawi Lalang will race Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the field is lacking in top-end talent. Lalang, who won the NCAA title in 2011 and is coming off one heck of a summer of track racing, is eyeing the biggest meets at the end of the fall, so the Wildcats will more than likely be running without him, but there are nearly a dozen talented harriers competing for top three this weekend.

Arkansas’ Kemoy Campbell leads the pre-race charge. At the Chile Pepper Invitational two weeks ago, Campbell gave reigning national champion Kennedy Kithuka (Texas Tech) all he could handle, losing to the Red Raider by a mere six seconds. Campbell is fearless and should show the same courage yet again come Saturday.

Another runner having one heck of a season is BYU’s Tylor Thatcher. Thatcher is on a roll this fall, winning both the Autumn Classic and Roy Griak Invitational over some tough competition. Saturday will prove his biggest test, but he’s stepped up to the challenge all season thus far, so we should expect nothing different.

Northern Arizona will follow the lead of Futsum Zienasellassie and Brian Shrader. Both gentlemen have the talent to challenge for victory and will look to earn some very low points for their squad.

Along with Campbell, Stanley Kebenei is running strong this season. He gives Arkansas a very low number two runner, which could be the key to Arkansas’ success in Wisconsin.

Not to be overlooked, North Carolina State senior Andrew Colley could pull off an upset victory and should at the very least challenge for top three. He didn’t quite have the final gear he needed at the Roy Griak Invitational two weeks ago, where he finished fourth, but is taking a long-term approach to the season and should have even greater fitness this weekend.

Texas’ Craig Lutz and Eastern Kentucky’s Soufiane Bouchikhi are two other top three contenders. Lutz enters Saturday’s competition ready to finally compete against top competition. He won a glorified tempo run at the Texas Invitational, besting the field (his teammates) by 26 seconds. Bouchikhi, who hails from Belgium, was All-American last fall and looks to build upon that success in 2013. He’ll most certainly challenge for top three.

Other notable contenders include Mason Ferlic (Michigan), Solomon Haile (Arkansas), Matt McElroy (Northern Arizona), Rob Finnerty (Wisconsin), Luke Caldwell (New Mexico) and Jason Witt (BYU).

Ranked Teams Competing

US#3 Northern Arizona

US #5 BYU

US#6 Arkansas

US#7 Portland

US #8 Columbia

US#11 Syracuse

US#12 Indiana

US#13 North Carolina

US#14 Texas

US#16 Eastern Kentucky

US#17 Providence

US#20 Wisconsin

US#21 UCLA

US#22 Minnesota

US#24 Georgetown

US#25 New Mexico

US#26 Florida

US#27 Dartmouth

US#28 Notre Dame

US#30 Arizona State