The 2019 Mountain West XC Championships will go down Friday morning in Logan, Utah. FloTrack will have live coverage of the event, which features the No. 21 Boise State men and No. 6 New Mexico women.

Watch the 2019 Mountain West XC Championships LIVE on FloTrack

Here are three things to watch in the men’s race on Friday:

Can defending champion Paul Roberts bounce back after rough Nuttycombe race?

Paul Roberts’ 2018 season established him as the class of the Mountain West after he won the conference meet and finished 20th at nationals. As such, the Wyoming senior entered 2019 as the favorite to rule the league once again. But Roberts struggled mightily in his last outing-- he was 129th at Nutttycombe, just fourth on his team-- leaving the door open for a less-established name to win on Friday in Logan.

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One such under-the-radar athlete is Boise State junior Ahmed Muhumed, who was fourth in this race a year ago and finished 23rd at Nuttycombe two weeks ago, tops in the conference. Roberts and Muhumed are two of only three returners from last year’s Mountain West top ten, setting up a potentially entertaining duel should Roberts find his form on Friday.

Can home team Utah State upset No. 21 Boise State?

A year ago, the Utah State men finished fifth at Mountain West, a full 70 points behind team champion Boise State. Fast-forward to 2019 and the Aggies-- who added BYU transfer Dallin Farnsworth this fall-- have a quartet of experienced seniors who spearheaded a 23-second spread at Nuttycombe. That tight pack and the race being held on their home course should help Utah State combat Boise’s advantage up front with Muhumed and All-American Miler Haller.

The Broncos beat USU by 27 points at Nuttycombe, but BSU’s 1:03 spread in Wisconsin shows they could be vulnerable to an upset in Logan.

It’s going to be really cold on race day

As the old sports adage goes, conditions will be the same for everybody on Friday, but the Mountain West competitors will nonetheless have to deal with chilly temperatures and hard-packed terrain in Logan. Winter has seemingly come early in northern Utah, with temperatures hovering in the high-20s and low 30s with light snowfall early this week.