Aug. 7, 2012
The complete NSCAA preseason Division-I top-25 rankings can be found here
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The National Soccer Coaches of America (NSCAA) and Continental Tire released their pre-season top-25 this afternoon and ranked the University of Illinois soccer program as the 19th best squad in the nation. Eleventh year head coach Janet Rayfield enjoys her tenth consecutive season in which the Fighting Illini obtained a ranking with the official NCAA top-25 poll.
The Orange and Blue finished the 2011 season 17-5-2 and 19th in the nation, a ranking they will resume and look to raise with a challenging 2012 schedule. The Illini are scheduled to compete against four teams in the top-25, including three in the top-10 and six total squads that received votes in the pre-season poll. Illinois will battle No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 6 UCLA, No. 9 Penn State, No. 22 Virginia Tech, and Ohio State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee who both received votes but did not appear in the top-25.
2011 National Champion Stanford retained their top spot in the poll after finishing last year undefeated with a 25-0-1 record. Last season's runner-up Duke reclaims their No. 2 ranking, while Wake Forest, who hosts the Illini on Sept. 9, is in the three spot, followed by Florida State and Oklahoma State.
UCLA, who hosts the Illini on Aug. 26, ranks sixth, as Virginia and North Carolina are next in the seven and eight spots, respectively. Penn State, who renews their rivalry with Illinois when they travel to Champaign on Sept. 23, ranked ninth, while Pepperdine follows suit and rounds out the top-10.
Boston College, Central Florida, Maryland and a tie between Memphis and Texas A&M occupy slots 11-14, while Marquette, Santa Clara, Long Beach State, Illinois and West Virginia follow in places 16-20. Florida took No. 21, followed by Virginia Tech who squares off with the Illini in the Wake Forest Invitational on Sept. 7. Boston University, South Carolina, and Auburn round out the top-25. Finally, Ohio State, San Diego, Notre Dame, Louisville, Baylor, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Miami, LSU, Dayton, William & Mary, Tennessee, Kentucky and Harvard received votes for the initial top-25 list.
The Orange and Blue kick off their season with an exhibition game at Cincinnati on Aug. 10 before hosting an exhibition bout at home on Aug. 12 against the Kentucky Wildcats. The official season is underway August 17 vs. Western Michigan at 7 p.m. CT at the Illinois Soccer Stadium.
- ILLINI -
