Wake Forest and West Virginia continue their climbs through Soccer America's Top 25 this week, winning crucial conference matches and settling among the best 11.
The Demon Deacons, off to an extraordinary 8-0-0 start, jumps from 15th to ninth after an impressive 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference triumph over Maryland. Wake Forest entered the Top 25, at 25th, two weeks ago.
The Mountaineers, 17th in the preseason rankings but off the list following a loss at Auburn in their opener, moves up from 13th to 11th after Big East Conference wins over Pitt and previously unbeaten Villanova. West Virginia was 22nd two weeks ago.
Unbeaten Utah returns to the Top 25 and Purdue makes its debut as stumbles tumble Nebraska and Auburn from the rankings.
The top six — North Carolina, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Portland and California — remain unchanged. Santa Clara drops from seventh to 10th after losing two leads in a 2-2 tie with Florida. Texas A&M, Penn State and Wake Forest precede the Broncos.
Duke falls from 11th to 17th after losing to Marquette at home, and Clemson drops from 17th to 24th after losing its ACC opener at Florida State.
Washington jumps from 22nd to 16th after winning its Nike Husky Invitational for the first time in six years.
Slumping Nebraska, which had been ranked 19th, managed only a tie at home with in-state rival Creighton. Its victories, over Drake and Indiana State, came against subpar competition. Auburn lost to unfancied Rhode Island in the opener of the UMass Classic.
Purdue is 6-1-0 after beating Minnesota and Wisconsin in its first two Big Ten Conference clashes. The Boilermakers' lone loss came during the season's first weekend at No. 6 California.
Utah, which spent a week in the Top 25 after upsetting Portland in its opener, returns to the list following shutout wins at Washington State and Montana.
9/23 Team (Record) 9/16
1 North Carolina (7-0-1) 1
2 Stanford (6-0-0) 2
3 Texas (5-2-0) 3
4 UCLA (6-1-0) 4
5 Portland (7-2-0) 4
6 California (5-1-1) 6
7 Texas A&M (5-3-0) 8
8 Penn State (5-1-1) 10
9 Wake Forest (8-0-0) 15
10 Santa Clara (4-2-1) 7
11 West Virginia (7-1-0) 13
12 Notre Dame (6-2-0) 9
13 Connecticut (7-1-1) 14
14 Tennessee (6-1-0) 12
15 Virginia (4-2-1) 16
16 Washington (5-2-1) 22
17 Duke (5-3-0) 11
18 USC (3-3-1) 20
19 Michigan (7-1-0) 22
20 Pepperdine (6-0-2) 18
21 Purdue (6-1-0) NR
22 Florida (3-4-1) 24
23 Utah (5-0-2) NR
24 Clemson (4-4-0) 17
25 Denver (4-1-2) 25