Title Contenders
No. 2 Colorado School of Mines
Region: 2nd at South Central Region
Conference: 1st at RMAC
2016 NCAAs: 3rd
How They Will Win: The Orediggers are the DII equivalent of BYU. They bludgeon you with their depth and tiny 1-5 spread. Yes, Colorado School of Mines lost to rival Adams State at regionals by three points, but their 27-second spread was arguably more impressive than ASU's performance. If Mines repeats that type of pack running in Louisville and one of the Adams State studs struggles, go ahead and hand the Orediggers the trophy.
CSM has had a different No. 1 at each of their meets in 2017, but make no mistake: each of Ricardo Ocampo, Grant Colligan, and Matthew Kade is a top-15 threat. Mines' top returner, Logan Ramlet, was 20th at NCAAs last season, but he's been anywhere from fourth to seventh man in 2017. That's not a condemnation of Ramlet; he's had a solid sophomore year. His teammates have just been that much better.
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