Texas vaults into the top five and Portland returns to the No. 2 spot for the first time since preseason after a rash of upsets hit squads in the
Soccer America Top 20. The Longhorns,
unbeaten since starting their campaign with one-goal losses to North Carolina, California and Stanford, jump from ninth to fifth after claiming their first Big 12 regular-season title. Portland
moves up from No. 5 after hammering Nebraska, 3-0, and San Francisco, 6-0. Eight teams in last week's Top 20 suffered defeats, including No. 2 Santa Clara (which drops to No. 3 after falling at
Pepperdine), No. 4 UCLA (No. 6 after loss at Oregon State), No. 6 Penn State (No. 10 after loss at Ohio State), No. 7 Nebraska (No. 14 after loss at Portland and tie at 2-11-2 Colorado) and No. 8
Virginia (No. 13 after 6-1 drilling by No. 1 North Carolina). Texas A&M jumps from 10th to seventh, Florida from 11th to eighth and Notre Dame from 12th to ninth. West Virginia returns to the
Top 20 after victories at Georgetown and James Madison. The Mountaineers' only losses this season are to Virginia, Notre Dame and Connecticut, all by one goal. Maryland makes its first appearance
in this season's rankings after wins over Rutgers and at North Carolina State. Out are Wake Forest (2-0 loss at Duke) and Florida State (3-2 loss at Virginia).
| 10/29 | TEAM | RECORD | 10/22 |
| 1 | North Carolina | (14-0-0) | 1
|
| 2 | Portland | (13-2-0) | 5 |
| 3 | Santa Clara | (14-2-0) | 2
|
| 4 | Stanford | (12-1-1) | 3 |
| 5 | Texas | (11-3-0) | 9
|
| 6 | UCLA | (13-2-0) | 4 |
| 7 | Texas A&M | (10-3-1) | 10
|
| 8 | Florida | (13-3-1) | 11 |
| 9 | Notre Dame | (13-2-1) | 12
|
| 10 | Penn State | (14-3-1) | 6 |
| 11 | Connecticut | (13-4-0) | 13
|
| 12 | Clemson | (10-3-0) | 14 |
| 13 | Virginia | (12-3-1) | 8
|
| 14 | Nebraska | (13-3-1) | 7 |
| 15 | Washington | (10-3-1) | 16
|
| 16 | St. Mary's | (12-2-2) | 15 |
| 17 | Princeton | (11-1-1) | 17
|
| 18 | Tennessee | (11-4-0) | 18 |
| 19 | West Virginia | (13-3-1) | NR
|
| 20 | Maryland | (9-4-2) | NR |
* Rankings are through games played Oct. 28.
