Up until today’s halftime reveal, college soccer fans and players relied heavily on the weekly United Soccer Coaches Poll to determine the top 25 teams in the country, but with the committes’ RPI-based ranking system, there’s a new take on the best-performing teams this season.
Here’s the top-16 ranking:
| Rank | School | record (w-l-t) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penn State | 11-0-4 |
| 2 | Florida State | 11-0-1 |
| 3 | North Carolina | 9-0-6 |
| 4 | Stanford | 12-0-2 |
| 5 | Texas Tech | 13-0-4 |
| 6 | BYU | 13-1-3 |
| 7 | UCLA | 12-1-0 |
| 8 | Clemson | 11-1-3 |
| 9 | Notre Dame | 9-2-3 |
| 10 | Arkansas | 10-3-1 |
| 11 | Brown | 9-1-2 |
| 12 | Alabama | 9-3-4 |
| 13 | Xavier | 11-2-3 |
| 14 | Memphis | 12-1-0 |
| 15 | Mississippi State | 9-3-3 |
| 16 | Georgia | 7-3-4 |
Let’s break it all down ⤵️
Penn State takes the cake 🥇
Probably the biggest surprise in the reveal is Penn State’s spot at No. 1. The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and have not once broken into the Poll’s top 3 this year. The Blue and White have faced a tough schedule this year, starting out with a hard-fought draw at then-No. 2 North Carolina’s packed stadium. Since then, the Nittany Lions have posted 34 goals allowing only 8 balls…
