The Ski Racing 2004 NCAA Coaches' Poll: Utah on top

The Ski Racing 2004 NCAA Coaches’ Poll: Utah on top{mosimage}As the NCAA enters its 50th year of skiing competition, the University of Utah is picked to win its second straight title, but no one thinks it will be easy.

The millennium opened with the University of Denver taking the NCAA championship, then holding it for the next two years like it was theirs, and theirs alone. But the Utes, under the leadership of coach Kevin Sweeney, were always hot on the Pioneer trail.

Last year, Utah grabbed the title. This year, they’re favored to do it again, according to our poll of NCAA college ski coaches. Ski Racing’s preseason poll ranks the top schools competing in NCAA Division I alpine and nordic skiing.

We e-mailed the coaches a list of all schools competing in the 2003 NCAA championships and asked them to rank the schools, 1-10, in the order that they think the teams will finish at the 2004 championships.

We then gave 10 points to first place votes, nine for second, down the line to 10th place (one point). Of 27 coaches polled, 19 responded.

The listing below shows the rank, the school and the total points, with first-place votes in parentheses.

Ski Racing 2004 Coaches’ Poll
1. University of Utah (11) 176
2. Universityof Colorado (4) 167
3. University of Denver 140
4. University of Vermont (1) 137
5. University of New Mexico (2) 132
6. University of Nevada-Reno 75
7. Dartmouth College 72
8. University of Alaska-Anchorage (1) 60
9. Middlebury College 58
10. University of New Hampshire 13