It’s Akron, the ACC and UCSB in the top five of Soccer America’s Men’s Preseason Top 25 of Division 1 soccer teams.
The Gauchos are the only West Coast school in the top 10 — UCLA comes in at No. 11. In other preseason rankings, UCSB is fourth in TopDrawerSoccer.com, No. 6 in College Soccer News and No. 8 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America top 25.
Akron, which was ranked No. 1 all of last season before losing in the NCAA College Cup final to Virginia on penalty kicks, starts the season on top of the Soccer America poll, which is selected by the magazine’s editors.
North Carolina is rated No. 2 followed by ACC rivals Virginia and Maryland. The ACC leads all conferences with six teams in the top 25. The Big East and Big Ten each have five teams.
Stanford (13) and Portland (22) are the only other teams from the west that are ranked.
UCSB plays its final exhibition match on Friday when it hosts Mexico’s Under-20 national team at Harder Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25
RANK/TEAM (2009 RECORD)
1. Akron (23-1-1)
2. North Carolina (16-2-4)
3. Virginia (19-3-3)
4. Maryland (15-6-2)
5. UC Santa Barbara (17-5-2)
6. Tulsa (15-5-2)
7. Wake Forest (17-4-3)
8. Duke (14-7-0)
9. Boston College (14-9-0)
10. Connecticut (11-4-4)
11. UCLA (12-4-4)
12. Monmouth (18-2-2)
13. Stanford (12-6-2)
14. Ohio State (12-5-4)
15. St. John’s (9-3-9)
16. Northwestern (11-5-4)
17. Penn State (12-8-2)
18. Notre Dame (11-8-4)
19. South Florida (14-4-3)
20. Louisville (13-3-4)
21. Indiana (12-10-1)
22. Portland (12-6-5)
23. Michigan State (11-8-2)
24. UNC Wilmington (14-3-5)
25. Saint Louis (15-7-0)
