NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee reveals Top 16 teams

(Pictured Above: Penn State, still unbeaten through 15 games, claimed the Committee’s No. 1 spot | Photo Credit: Penn State Athletics)

INDIANAPOLIS — With less than three weeks to go before selections, the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee has revealed its ranking of the top 16 teams.

“The committee is very excited to provide a midseason reveal for the second time, and this year, expanding that reveal to 16 teams,” said Keri Mendoza, Senior Associate AD at Cal Poly and this year’s committee chair. “This allowed us to really look at each team’s body of work at this point in the season and have an in-depth discussion of the top teams in the nation.”

Using results through games on October 17, Penn State comes in as the top team in the committee rankings. The Nittany Lions are undefeated in 2023 with a record of 11-0-4 against one of the nation’s toughest schedules. Outside of Big Ten play, PSU had four non-conference matchups with teams in the top 50 of the RPI, going 3-0-1 in those contests.

The next two spots go to perennial ACC powers Florida State (11-0-1) and North Carolina (9-0-6). The Seminoles and Tar Heels again look to be contenders for national title and are in line for potential top seeds in the tournament.

Rounding out the top four, which would be the final #1 seed in the bracket, is Stanford (12-0-2). The three-time national champions carry an undefeated record into the final few weeks of Pac-12 play, racking up a 5-0-1 record against teams in the top 50 of the RPI.

“The teams in the top four spots all remain unbeaten and have good results against top 50 RPI teams, so the committee feels that they are deserving of those rankings,” said Mendoza.

The next four spots in the rankings go to a pair of Big 12 schools in Texas Tech (13-0-4) and BYU (13-1-3), the defending champions from UCLA (12-1-0), and the third ACC team, Clemson (11-1-3).

Notre Dame (9-2-3) and Arkansas (10-3-1) round out the top 10, followed by Brown (9-1-2) and Alabama (9-3-4). Xavier (11-2-3), Memphis (12-1-0), Mississippi State (9-3-3), and Georgia (7-3-4) are the final teams in the rankings, while Georgetown (8-1- 7) and Nebraska (11-2-3) were also recognized as schools under consideration by the committee.

“The remaining 12 spots garnered a lot of discussion, and the committee had a difficult time trying to distinguish between some teams,” Mendoza continued. “We evaluated each team’s RPI, strength of schedule, results against top 50 RPI teams, head to-head results, and results against common opponents. From that review, we landed on a top 16 with two additional teams we are watching closely. We look forward to seeing the results from the games in the final two weeks of regular season play and then, of course, the conference championships. A lot of teams are still in the mix, so the final rankings could look a lot different than they do today.”

The 2023 championship field will consist of 31 automatic qualifiers and 33 at large selections, which will be revealed on Monday, November 6 at 4:00 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.

For selections, the committee will identify the top 32 teams, seeding fifty percent of the bracket in four groupings of 1 to 8. The top 16 teams will be identified in rank order and assigned a seed grouping from 1 to 4.

The tournament opens on Friday, November 10. The championship will take place at campus sites through the quarterfinals as teams look to earn a trip to the Women’s College Cup.

The 2023 Women’s College Cup will return to WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, with semifinals on Friday, December 1, followed by the national championship game on Monday, December 4.

NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee Top 16 ranking

(record through games on October 17)

1. Penn State (11-0-4)
2. Florida State (11-0-1)
3. North Carolina (9-0-6)
4. Stanford (12-0-2)
5. Texas Tech (13-0-4)
6. BYU (13-1-3)
7. UCLA (12-1-0)
8. Clemson (11-1-3)
9. Notre Dame (9-2-3)
10. Arkansas (10-3-1)
11. Brown (9-1-2)
12. Alabama (9-3-4)
13. Xavier (11-2-3)
14. Memphis (12-1-0)
15. Mississippi State (9-3-3)
16. Georgia (7-3-4)

Under Consideration (alphabetical order): Georgetown (8-1-7) and Nebraska (11-2-3)