By JOHN BOSCHINI
Akron maintained the top spot in the NSCAA/Adidas national rankings after the first full week of men's collegiate action. The Zips received all 21 first-place votes after opening-week victories over traditional powerhouses North Carolina and Wake Forest. Defending national champions Virginia stayed in the runner-up spot with a 2-0 start of its own.
Tulsa moved up four spots to number three while North Carolina was forgiven its early loss to Akron and retained its hold on fourth position. Boston College moved up seven spots to round out the top five.
No. 15 Penn State, No. 19 California, No. 20 Georgetown and No. 24 Creighton all made their debut in the top 25 after undefeated starts while UNC-Wilmington, South Florida, Stanford and Northwestern, ranked ninth in the preseason poll, dropped out.
Wake Forest fell from third to 12th after an opening loss and a draw while UC Santa Barbara tumbled from eight to 21st after an overtime upset by CSU Bakersfield. UC Irvine and Connecticut jumped highest in the rankings, climbing 11 and 12 places respectively.
Despite Wake Forest's tough start the ACC still dominates the top-half of the rankings, claiming six of the top 12 spots.
1. Akron (21) 525 pts. (2-0-0)
2. Virginia 504 (2-0-0)
3. Tulsa 451 (2-0-0)
4. North Carolina 392 (1-1-0)
5. Boston College 390 (2-0-0)
6. Harvard 366 (2-0-0)
7. Monmouth 354 (2-0-0)
8. Duke 338 (1-0-1)
9. Maryland 336 (1-1-0)
10. Connecticut 326 (2-0-0)
11. Ohio State 304 (2-0-0)
12. Wake Forest 280 (0-1-1)
13. Louisville 271 (1-0-1)
14. UC Irvine 227 (3-0-0)
15. Penn State 190 (2-0-0)
16. Portland 185 (1-0-1)
17. UCLA 170 (1-1-0)
18. Indiana 163 (1-1-0)
19. California 123 (1-0-1)
20. Georgetown 115 (2-0-0)
21. UC Santa Barbara 100 (0-1-1)
22. Drake 94 (1-1-0)
23. Michigan State 84 (1-1-0)
24. Creighton 72 (2-0-0)
25. St. John's 58 (1-1-0)
Others receiving votes: George Mason 44, Southern Methodist 36, South Florida 34, Loyola Marymount 31, Butler 31, Lafayette 25, UNC-Wilmington 24, Florida Gulf Coast 23, Northwestern 22, New Mexico 22, Adelphi 16, South Carolina 14, St. Mary's (Calif.) 13, North Carolina State 12, Dartmouth 9, Stanford 8, West Virginia 8, Cal State Bakersfield 8, Evansville 7, Old Dominion 7, San Francisco 4, Oregon State 4, Princeton 3, Pennsylvania 1.
What do you think of the rankings? Is Akron the early favorite for the title? Surprised by Wake Forest's poor start?