Women's Division I Top 25: New No. 1

by ESNN

November 11, 2013

The field is nearly set.

Conference tournament champions were crowned over the weekend as teams prepare for Monday afternoon’s selection announcement for the 2013 women’s NCAA Tournament.

The weekend’s action also had significant impact on the TopDrawerSoccer.com women’s Top 25.

For the first time since the fourth week of the season, a team aside from Virginia is atop the rankings, as ACC champions Florida State assumed the mantle. The Cavaliers were tripped up for the first time this season on Friday night, losing 4-2 against No. 4 Virginia Tech in the ACC semifinals.

The Seminoles, which defeated No. 5 North Carolina last Friday, followed that up with a narrow 1-0 win against the Hokies in Sunday’s ACC tourney final. Since losing 1-0 at Virginia on Oct. 27, FSU beat Notre Dame, Duke, Carolina and Tech – not a bad run right before tourney time.

Holding strong in the No. 2 spot is UCLA. The Bruins, who had already clinched the Pac-12 title prior to this week’s action, wrapped up their regular season schedule with a 4-1 thrashing of USC.

Knocking on the door of the top 5 is No. 6 Portland. The Pilots, in the midst of a memorable WCC campaign, secured a massive win and share of the conference title thanks to a 3-1 win against Santa Clara.

New conference tournament champions jumped into the top 10 as well, including No. 7 West Virginia (Big 12), No. 9 UCF (American Athletic) and No. 10 Nebraska (Big Ten).

Check out the complete Top 25 rankings here.

Ahead of the tournament field announcement (scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET), here’s a look at the teams that have already clinched spots in the big dance:

2013 NCAA Tournament Automatic Bids

America East: UMBC
American Athletic: UCF
Atlantic 10: La Salle
ACC: Florida State
Atlantic Sun: Jacksonville
Big 12: West Virginia
Big East: Marquette
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Liberty
Big Ten: Nebraska
Big West: Cal State Fullerton
CAA: Northeastern
Conference USA: Colorado College
Horizon League: Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ivy League: Harvard
MAC: Western Michigan
MAAC: Monmouth
Missouri Valley: Illinois State
Mountain West: San Diego State
NEC: Saint Francis (PA)(w)
Ohio Valley: Morehead State
Pac-12: UCLA
Patriot League: Boston University
SEC: Texas A&M
Southern Conference: Furman
Southland: Southeastern Louisiana
SWAC: Jackson State (MS)(w)
Summit League: Denver
Sun Belt Conference: South Alabama
WAC: Seattle
WCC: Santa Clara