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Natalie Bode | NCAA.com | August 27, 2021

Women's soccer rankings: Florida State leads latest rankings; Santa Clara falls after Week 1

Women's soccer rankings: Florida State stays on top, Santa Clara falls after Week 1

After an eventful opening week in Division I women's college soccer, the United Soccer Coaches poll has been updated with six new teams breaking into the top 25. 

One of the most notable changes is reigning national champion Santa Clara dropping out of the top five, formerly holding the No. 2 spot in the rankings before dropping to No. 10. This change comes after Santa Clara posted a double-overtime tie to previously unranked Cal.

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Florida State remains No. 1, followed by North Carolina, which jumped up a spot from last week after beating two ranked opponents. Virginia comes in at No. 3, with next UCLA at No. 4, and then Duke rounds out the top five. Senior Mackenzie Pluck has been a big contributor for the Blue Devils, earning her side two penalties in its opening match against then-No. 13 Arkansas, scoring one herself, and scoring the game-winner against previous No. 19 Washington on Sunday. Thanks to two back to back wins over ranked teams, Duke climbs to No. 5.

TCU and Penn State take spots 6 and 7, while Pepperdine shot up in the rankings to No. 8 after missing from the preseason top 25. The Waves find themselves breaking into the top 10 after defeating preseason No. 14 USC 2-0. Pepperdine is the highest ranked of the six new top 25 teams.

Texas A&M receives its new ranking of No. 21 after two losses last week to No. 1 Florida State and No. 8 TCU, falling from No. 9. The Aggies were barely edged out in the final moments against Florida State, conceding a goal to the Seminoles in the 89th minute. Against the Horned Frogs, Texas A&M went down early, and despite cutting the deficit in half late in the match, the Aggies couldn’t complete the rally.

Here's the new Top 25

United Soccer Coaches Top 25

Rank School Points Record Prev
1 Florida State (26) 837 2-0-0 1
2 North Carolina (4) 818 2-0-0 3
3 Virginia (1) 765 2-0-0 4
4 UCLA (2) 743 2-0-0 5
5 Duke 697 2-0-0 6
6 TCU 664 2-0-0 8
7 Penn State 615 2-0-0 10
8 Pepperdine 587 2-0-0 NR
9 Clemson 557 2-0-0 7
10 Santa Clara (1) 492 1-0-1 2
11 Georgetown 474 1-0-1 11
12 West Virginia 433 1-1-0 12
13 Stanford 419 1-0-0 24
14 Auburn 399 2-0-0 NR
15 South Florida 370 2-0-0 20
16 South Carolina 303 1-0-0 17
17 Tennessee 273 1-0-0 NR
18 Michigan 253 2-0-0 NR
19 UCF 215 1-0-0 NR
20 Cal 193 1-0-1 NR
21 Texas A&M 154 0-2-0 9
22 Rutgers 133 1-0-0 25
23 Rice 127 2-0-0 22
24 BYU 82 1-1-0 15
25 Southern California 61 0-1-0 14

Records are through games of Aug. 22, 2021

Also receiving votes: Pittsburgh (53), Arkansas (41), Memphis (38), Mississippi (33), Wisconsin (29), Hofstra (29), Arizona State (28), Gonzaga (24), Oklahoma State (24), Iowa (16), Xavier (13), Vanderbilt (13), Colorado (10), Washington (10), SMU (9), North Texas (5), Denver (4), LSU (4), Nebraska (2), Virginia Tech (1).

2021 NCAA women's soccer: 5 things to know this season

Looking ahead to Week 2, two headliners feature a pair of ranked teams: No. 9 Clemson vs. No. 21 Texas A&M on Saturday and No. 25 Southern Cal will visit No. 24 BYU on Thursday.

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