KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Taylor (Ind.) opens the season at No. 1 in the Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll after winning the 2020 national title.
The Dordt Men’s cross country team is in the 13 spot to start the season, while Doane is in at 21. Northwestern College received votes.
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Taylor (Ind.) [18] | 559 |
| 2 | 2 | Huntington (Ind.) | 534 |
| 3 | 3 | Milligan (Tenn.) | 525 |
| 4 | 5 | Saint Mary (Kan.) [1] | 504 |
| 5 | 6 | Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) | 478 |
| 6 | 8 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) [1] | 471 |
| 7 | 7 | Indiana Wesleyan | 432 |
| 8 | 9 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 430 |
| 9 | 10 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 412 |
| 10 | 4 | Oklahoma City | 405 |
| 11 | 11 | Oregon Tech | 394 |
| 12 | 12 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 366 |
| 13 | 13 | Dordt (Iowa) | 341 |
| 14 | 14 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 327 |
| 15 | NR | Southern Oregon | 312 |
| 16 | 15 | College of Idaho | 276 |
| 17 | 16 | Montreat (N.C.) | 269 |
| 18 | 19 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 262 |
| 19 | 17 | Northwest (Wash.) | 209 |
| 20 | 22 | Goshen (Ind.) | 201 |
| 21 | 20 | Doane (Neb.) | 182 |
| 22 | 24 | Carroll (Mont.) | 176 |
| 23 | 23 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 164 |
| 24 | NR | Columbia (Mo.) | 140 |
| 25 | NR | Grand View (Iowa) | 106 |
Receiving Votes: Grace (find.) 87, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 73, Eastern Oregon 44, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 44, Williams Carey (Miss.) 43, Northwestern (Iowa) 43, Campbellsville (Ky.) 37, Baker (Kan.) 28, Westmont (Calif.) 28, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 17, Loyola (La.) 13, Friends (Kan.) 11
