5 takeaways from the men's college soccer in-season top-16 rankings

Two Sun Belt teams lead the DI men's soccer committee rankings, only one undefeated team makes it into the top 16, some major differences between the US Soccer Coaches Poll and last year's champs didn't make the cut. As we've seen all season in men's college soccer, the level of play is high across the board leaving a fine margin for error and ample room for surprises. 

Here's the top-16 ranking: 

Marshall leads ranking and number of wins 😮‍💨

The Herd went 12 straight games without so much as tying an opponent, let alone losing. The only dent on their record is a loss at West Virginia, which is easily buffed out by their otherwise complete dominance over opponents. Leading the Sun Belt Conference with 15 points (5-1), No. 2 UCF trails with 13 points followed by WVU with 12. Discounting the blunder at WVU, Marshall has wildly outscored opponents 38 to 5 and is averaging about three goals a game. The Herd will look to hold onto their status at the top as they finish out regular season play with three conference matchups to go.

WVU is the only no-loss team in the top 16 😈

Ranked at No. 5, West Virginia is the only team that has yet to lose and has been the only squad to take down No. 1 Marshall all season — doing so in stunning fashion scoring five goals to Marshall's two with sophomore Marcus Caldeira registering a hat trick. According to the rankings, not all ties are created equal, and WVU's four ties are not enough to overcome No. 1 Marshall's one loss. WVU has excelled on their home turf, winning two of their top-5 ranked matches at home and drawing their only ranked road match. Caldeira leads the team and the conference with 12 goals on the season.

🎥 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞�� 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙗𝙮 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙥

— WVU Men's Soccer (@WVUMensSoccer)

Defending champs are nowhere to be seen 🍊

Forget Syracuse, not one of the teams from the 2022 College Cup are in today's top 16: Syracuse (7-3-4), Indiana (6-3-4), Creighton (4-5-5) or Pitt (6-4-3). If it's any consolation, though, Syracuse was ranked at No. 4 in last year's midseason top 16 and the top 3 teams were knocked out either at or before the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. The Orange has faced a tough schedule with several ranked draws in the mix and should not be discounted come tournament time.

Teams in the top 16 overlooked by United Soccer Coaches Poll 👀

Loyola Marymount | 6-1-5 overall, 1-0-1 conference
Loyola squeezed into the Coaches Poll the first two weeks of the season at No. 24 but has not been ranked since then. The Lions have earned impressive wins over Power 5 conference squads, Virginia (3-1), Oregon State (2-0) and UCLA (1-0). Only two matches into conference play, there is huge potential for Loyola Marymount to make some serious waves in the West Coast Conference and hold onto their spot in the Committee's top 16.

Virginia | 7-3-3 overll, 3-2-1 conference
Okay, the United coaches poll may have named Virginia at No. 18 this week but previous to this, they have yet to make the list this season. The Cavaliers have not had an easy schedule by any means and posted wins over then, No. 11 Pitt and then, No. 8 Louisville in addition to two ranked ties. Standout freshman Stephen Annor has helped the team to a five-game win streak, three of which were comeback victories, scoring seven goals in the last eight matches.

All 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 league goals from Stephen Annor this season 🍿⚔️

— Virginia Men's Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer)

RPI based ranking

The ranking is based on the criteria used to select and seed the 48 teams for the Division I Men’s Soccer Championship and in no particular order includes the strength of schedule, Rating Percentage Index (RPI), head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, strength and results against non-conference opponents, late season performance in the last eight games and strength and results against conference opponents.