The University of North Carolina, which last December won its first NCAA Division I women's soccer championship in three years with a perfect 27-0-0 campaign, is the No. 1 team in Soccer America magazine's Preseason Top 25.
The Tar Heels, led by Olympians Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O'Reilly and national team midfielder Lori Chalupny, went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in Soccer America's rankings after their selection as the top team in last year's Preseason Top 25.
Santa Clara is No. 2, with the Top 10 completed by Notre Dame, Texas, Florida State, Portland, Virginia, Tennessee, Penn State and UCLA. NCAA runner-up Connecticut is ranked 13th.
Four Atlantic Coast Conference teams were among the Top 12 (with Clemson joining North Carolina, Florida State and Virginia), and five teams from the Big 12 Conference are in the Top 25: No. 4 Texas, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 17 Colorado, No. 19 Kansas and No. 25 Nebraska.
There are four teams from the Big East Conference and three each from the West Coast, Pacific-10 and Southeastern conferences.
SOCCER AMERICA COLLEGE WOMEN'S
2004 PRESEASON TOP 25
(with conference and 2003 record)
1. North Carolina Atlantic Coast 27-0-0
2. Santa Clara West Coast 14-4-6
3. Notre Dame Big East 20-3-1
4. Texas Big 12 12-9-0
5. Florida State Atlantic Coast 17-8-1
6. Portland West Coast 18-3-2
7. Virginia Atlantic Coast 12-5-4
8. Tennessee Southeastern 17-5-2
9. Penn State Big Ten 19-3-3
10. UCLA Pacific-10 20-2-3
11. Texas A&M Big 12 13-6-3
12. Clemson Atlantic Coast 11-7-2
13. Connecticut Big East 15-6-3
14. Stanford Pacific-10 10-9-2
15. Utah Mountain West 16-2-2
16. Florida Southeastern 19-4-2
17. Colorado Big 12 15-4-1
18. Ohio State Big Ten 13-5-3
19. Kansas Big 12 18-6-1
20. Arizona State Pacific-10 13-5-3
21. Boston College Big East 15-3-3
22. Pepperdine West Coast 14-6-1
23. Auburn Southeastern 14-4-3
24. West Virginia Big East 17-4-2
25. Nebraska Big 12 13-8-1