Indiana looks to accomplish what it failed to do in 1984 and 2000 when the Hoosiers fell short of their bid to win three straight national titles. Rookie coach Mike Freitag won a national title a year after legendary Jerry Yeagley went out with his sixth title. Freitag lost Drew Moore, Danny OÆRourke and Jay Nolly to MLS, but eight other starters return. In addition, IU welcomes top recruit Lee Nguyen. Traditional powers such as UCLA, Duke, Maryland and Connecticut join rising national contenders like New Mexico, UC Santa Barbara and Tulsa, among others, in the hunt for the MenÆs College Cup crown, which will be contested Dec. 9-11 in Cary, N.C.
RANK TEAM (LAST YEAR'S RECORD)
1 Indiana (19-4-1)
2 UCLA (14-4-2)
3 Duke (18-6-0)
4 Maryland (17-6-2)
5 Connecticut (12-8-3)
6 UNC Greensboro (19-3-1)
7 New Mexico (17-1-2)
8 SMU (16-4-1)
9 UC Santa Barbara (21-2-2)
10 St. JohnÆs (12-6-4)
11 North Carolina (10-9-2).
12 VCU (12-6-3)
13 Santa Clara (15-6-0)
14 Creighton (14-4-2)
15 San Francisco (14-5-1)
16 Virginia (18-5-1)
17 Northwestern (15-6-2)
18 Wake Forest (14-5-2)
19 Notre Dame (13-3-3)
20 Tulsa (12-7-4)
21 Boston College (13-5-2)
22 Cal State Northridge (11-6-2)
23 California (13-4-3)
24 Loyola Marymount (11-8-3)
25 Seton Hall (12-7-3)