Thank you for all the replies. tho answer a few questions:
-I'm shopping in Fargo right now
-size 13 feet, hadn't even thought about pannier clearance. (I'll probably get a rear rack)
-I'm definitely a fan of the drop bar, especially after some test runs.
-I did in fact talk to Larry at GNBC, he said the 61 specialized there was a good fit, I sensed a little bit of salesperson in that though so I wanted to ask some non-biased people before I did anything.
-Thanks for the tall riders link
-I will be visiting FMCBW on Tuesday to see what I can see.

At this point, I'm probably going to try and find something at FMCBW, I'm an engineering major, and building a bike sounds like a blast, and getting it essentially free, that sounds pretty good to my wallet.

So, at this point what I'm looking for is: a 63cm, 25in or bigger road/cross frame

I'll get back to you guys later this week to tell you how the search is going.

once again thank you