Here are the NSCAA Men’s NCAA Division III Preseason Top 25 rankings as sanctioned and conducted by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America:
| Rank/Team | 1997 Record |
| 1. Wheaton (Ill.) | 24-0-1 |
| 2. Coll. of New Jersey | 17-6-0 |
| 3. Mary Washington | 21-3-1 |
| 4. Amherst | 13-5-1 |
| 5. Gettysburg | 16-4-2 |
| 6. Ithaca | 15-5-0 |
| 7t. Ohio Wesleyan | 16-8-0 |
| 7t. Cal Lutheran | 17-3-2 |
| 9. Kean | 20-2-0 |
| 10. Plymouth State | 15-3-1 |
| 11. Macalester | 14-1-3 |
| 12. Virginia Wesleyan | 17-4-2 |
| 13. Muhlenberg | 16-5-1 |
| 14. Alma | 15-4-1 |
| 15. Kenyon | 15-3-0 |
| 16. Washington (Mo.) | 14-6-0 |
| 17. R.P.I. | 11-5-1 |
| 18. Rochester | 12-2-3 |
| 19. Wheaton (Mass.) | 14-5-0 |
| 20. Trinity (Texas) | 18-2-1 |
| 21. Messiah | 16-2-3 |
| 22. Greensboro | 14-4-1 |
| 23. Rowan | 15-6-0 |
| 24. Johns Hopkins | 15-3-1 |
| 25. Rhodes | 17-3-1 |