No. 3 San Francisco
Region: 1st at West
Conference: 1st at WCC
2016 NCAAs: 6th
How They Will Win: Like Colorado, San Francisco has an extremely close top five group of scorers. Ever since 2011, when the Dons made the championship for the first time, the team has been on a steady rise -- highlighted by a program-best sixth-place finish at last year's championship. This year, coach Helen Lehman-Winters has guided the team to an impressive near undefeated streak (with the exception of the Wisconsin Invitational) this fall.
The Dons showed early season pack running with the low 22-point win at Roy Griak, but really opened up at the Wisconsin Invitational with a runner-up finish to New Mexico. At the time, the Dons' top five was no match for the Lobos's 87-point winning score, but the team has continued to throw down impressive performances since mid-October. Most recently, San Francisco scored 59 points to beat Stanford and defending champion Oregon at the NCAA West Region. Led by an individual win from Charlotte Taylor, the Dons put all five scorers with the first 31 finishers to topple the west region standouts and claim the program's first region title.
With an individual title contender and a tight group of scorers, San Francisco has the potential to rise to the occasion to become NCAA champions.