Winning the title in his first season as head coach would be a storybook beginning for new UCLA boss B.J. Snow, but that’s the scenario we are predicting as we look through our admittedly muddy crystal ball and release the TopDrawerSoccer.com Tournament 64 rankings, preseason version.

Look, trying to predict what will happen in the women’s college soccer world 3 ½ months from now in Kennesaw, Georgia, is pretty hazardous, but we do like the look of Bruins this season, as Snow replaces previous coach Jillian Ellis, who made trips to the College Cup finals almost a ho-hum event in Westwood.

This year’s UCLA team has goal-scoring standout Sydney Leroux back for a final bite of the apple, returning midfield stalwarts Jenna Richmond, Ahsha Smith and Chelsea Cline, goalkeeper Chante Sandiford, high-profile transfers Chelsea Stewart and Charney Burk plus a dynamite incoming freshmen class. 

The team will need to gel together in short order, but we’re tabbing them to be up to the task.

The battle, of course, will be fierce, starting right in the Bruins’ own conference with last year’s national runner-up Stanford, which loses goal-scorer Christen Press but returns top talents like Teresa Noyola, Alina Garciamendez, Rachel Quon, Camille Levin and Lindsay Taylor, along with adding some highly-touted freshmen of their own. Paul Ratcliffe’s squad has come so close two years in a row, you know they will be gunning for the title like never before.

Defending national champion Notre Dame may have snuck up on some people last year after being handed a 4th seed prior to the tournament, but the Fighting Irish were clearly deserving of their national title, punctuated in the final with a virtuoso midfield performance from Courtney Barg. Barg is back for coach Randy Waldrum along with her youth teammate and goal-scoring force Melissa Henderson, plus Mandy Laddish, Elizabeth Tucker and Jessica Schuveiller.

Oh, and then there’s North Carolina, where anything short of a national title is considered a disappointment for Anson Dorrance’s crew. Look for Crystal Dunn, Courtney Jones and Kealia Ohai to be a powerhouse offensive trip, with Amber Brooks and Meg Morris providing steel and a remarkably deep cast of supporting talent fueling the Tar Heels’ high-pressure system.

Boston College is another loaded team in the ACC, while perennial contenders Portland, Florida State and Virginia will also be major factors. Add to that teams who broke into the top echelon last year like Ohio State and Maryland, and guessing who will prevail in the end proves to be just that, a guess.

A reminder, our ranking is a little different in that we attempt to project the 64-team postseason field on a week-by-week basis, through the season. So every conference that receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament will be represented in our list. For starters, we track very closely with the number of at-large berths given out to each conference last year by the selection committee.

See the preseason TopDrawerSoccer.com Tournament 64 National Ranking here.