1 VS. 2: Stanford's stint as the nation's No. 1 team appears to be short-lived: Second-ranked North Carolina captured Friday's showdown at St. Mary's Fall Classic, 1-0, on Alyssa Ramsey's tally in the 60th minute.

The Cardinal had more possession and created more chances — Marcia Wallis, with better fortune, might have had a hat trick — but its game was disrupted by Carolina's physical play. Midfielders Kendall Fletcher, playing her first match in weeks, and Anne Felts gave superb performances off the bench for the Tar Heels.

SCU IN SOCAL: No. 8 Santa Clara's jaunt to L.A. started well — a 2-1 overtime victory over No. 3 UCLA on Kristi Candau's goal — but ended poorly, with a 1-0 loss to No. 18 USC on Ali Fennell's 85th-minute rebound. It snapped the Broncos' six-game unbeaten streak and left them 1-3 against the Pac-10. Its other losses were to Stanford and California.

IN DECLINE: No. 21 Virginia, No. 23 Notre Dame and Nebraska — national powers all — continue to struggle.

Virginia (6-3-2) was held to a 1-1 draw by Richmond and had to rally to beat UAB, 2-1. They've won only half of their past 10 games and haven't beaten a top-level foe all season.

Injuries have been costly for Notre Dame (7-5-0), which has lost three of four games and already has been eliminated from the Big East postseason tournament. The four Mid-Atlantic qualifiers are set: No. 9 West Virginia, which on Sunday dominated the Fighting Irish, 3-0; No. 20 Villanova, Rutgers and Georgetown. No. 11 Connecticut and Miami have qualified from the Northeast Division.

Nebraska (5-4-3), which started its campaign by tying North Carolina, fell to No. 5 Texas, 4-0, and No. 6 Texas A&M, 3-2, and is 1-2-1 in the Big 12 Conference. The Cornhuskers this season have been shutout by Florida and Portland and was held to a tie by Creighton.

TIGHT RACE: The Big Ten is emerging as one of the better races in the country, with Michigan grabbing the top spot with a 4-0 romp over visiting Penn State in the rain on Friday. The Wolverines are 5-1-0 in conference play, their lone loss a 4-0 rout by Minnesota, which is 1-5-0. No. 7 Penn State fell to 4-1-0. Michigan State is 4-3-0, No. 24 Purdue is 3-1-1 and Indiana is 2-1-2.

BIG-GAME WEEK: There were plenty of big games this week. Among the biggest was No. 10 California's 1-0 triumph Friday, on Duke transfer Carly Fuller's goal, over No. 13 Wake Forest, which sustained its first defeat.

No. 4 Portland, perhaps the best team in the country the past three weeks, routed No. 12 Washington, 4-0, as Canadian national-teamer Christine Sinclair scored a pair of first-half goals. The Pilots have also shutout North Carolina, Notre Dame, Clemson, Denver, Nebraska and UC Irvine.

No. 14 Tennessee opened SEC play with wins over Auburn and Alabama, and No. 25 Denver crushed North Texas, the Pioneers' greatest obstacle in their quest for the Sun Belt title.

NO LOSSES: The ranks of the unbeaten was thinned to six teams: North Carolina (10-0-2), No. 15 Pepperdine (10-0-2), No. 22 Princeton (9-0-0), Charlotte (9-0-1), Navy (8-0-3) and UTEP (11-0-0). Stanford and Wake Forest were among five teams suffering their initial losses. The others: Mississippi, Niagara and Oklahoma State.

How the top 25 fared:

1. Stanford (9-1-0)
10/4 vs. North Carolina at St. Mary's (0-1), 10/6 vs. Tulane at St. Mary's (3-0)

2. North Carolina (10-0-2)
10/4 vs. Stanford at St. Mary's (1-0), 10/6 at St. Mary's (3-0)

3. UCLA (8-2-0)
10/4 vs. Santa Clara (1-2 OT), 10/6 at Loyola Marymount (3-2)

4. Portland (10-2-1)
10/5 vs. Washington (4-0), 10/7 vs. Oregon (3-0)

5. Texas (8-2-1)
10/4 at Nebraska (4-0), 10/6 at Colorado (1-0)

6. Texas A&M (9-3-0)
10/4 at Colorado (2-0), 10/6 at Nebraska (3-2)

7. Penn State (8-2-1)
10/4 at Michigan (0-4), 10/6 at Michigan State (3-0)

8. Santa Clara (7-3-1)
10/4 at UCLA (2-1 OT), 10/6 at USC (0-1)

9. West Virginia (10-1-1)
10/4 at Seton Hall (1-1), 10/6 vs. Notre Dame (3-0)

10. California (7-2-1)
10/4 vs. Wake Forest (1-0)

11. Connecticut (10-1-1)
10/4 vs. Miami, Fla. (5-0), 10/6 vs. Yale (1-0)

12. Washington (5-4-2)
10/5 at Portland (0-4)

13. Wake Forest (10-1-1)
10/4 at California (0-1), 10/6 at Sacramento State (3-0)

14. Tennessee (8-3-0)
10/4 vs. Auburn (4-2), 10/6 vs. Alabama (3-2)

15. Pepperdine (10-0-2)
10/4 at Cal Poly (1-0), 10/6 vs. San Diego State (4-1)

16. Arizona State (7-1-2)
10/6 vs. Northern Arizona (4-1)

17. Florida State (7-2-2)
10/4 vs. Central Florida (3-1)

18. USC (5-3-3)
10/4 vs. Loyola Marymount (2-2), 10/6 vs. Santa Clara (1-0)

19. Clemson (7-4-0)
10/2 at College of Charleston (3-2 OT), 10/5 at Duke (3-2 OT)

20. Villanova (8-1-3)
10/2 vs. Georgetown (2-1)

21. Virginia (6-3-2)
10/1 vs. Richmond (1-1), 10/6 vs. UAB (2-1)

22. Princeton (9-0-0)
10/2 vs. George Mason (3-1), 10/5 at Columbia (1-0)

23. Notre Dame (7-5-0)
10/4 vs. Pittsburgh (4-0), 10/6 at West Virginia (0-3)

24. Purdue (7-2-1)
10/4 vs. Northwestern (2-1)

25. Denver (8-1-2)
10/2 vs. Wyoming (2-0), 10/4 vs. North Texas (6-1)