ORLANDO – With the release of the United Soccer Coaches’ week three rankings Tuesday afternoon, the UCF men’s soccer team has tied the highest national ranking in program history, slotting in at No. 5 in the country in the publication’s latest poll.
Tuesday’s release marks the first time since Nov. 12, 2019, that the United Soccer Coaches ranked the Knights the No. 5 team in the nation, and the latest poll represents the third consecutive week that has seen UCF rise in the national rankings as well. The last time the Knights earned a top-five ranking, UCF advanced as far as the third round of the NCAA tournament and completed a 15-3-2 campaign in 2019.
With the start of conference play approaching Friday evening, the Knights’ first Sun Belt opponent, West Virginia, climbed to No. 4 in the poll, making the teams’ weekend clash the first top-five matchup in UCF men’s soccer program history.
Four other 2023 UCF opponents join the Mountaineers in the poll, including No. 2 Marshall, No. 9 James Madison, No. 24 Kentucky and (RV) Florida International (six votes).
In addition to the Knights' No. 5 ranking by the United Soccer Coaches, UCF has also been ranked No. 7 by College Soccer News and No. 15 by Top Drawer Soccer in the latest releases of the publications' national rankings.
Kickoff for the fifth-ranked Knights’ Friday matchup against No. 4 West Virginia is slated for 7 p.m. from the UCF Soccer Complex.
COMPLETE WEEK 3 UNITED SOCCER COACHES TOP 25 POLL
| RANK | SCHOOL | PREVIOUS | 1ST-PLACE VOTES | TOTAL POINTS | W-L-T |
| 1 | Stanford | 1 | 4 | 195 | 4-0-0 |
| 2 | Marshall * | 2 | 3 | 194 | 5-0-0 |
| 3 | Akron | 5 | 1 | 183 | 5-0-1 |
| 4 | West Virginia * | 16 | 0 | 169 | 5-0-0 |
| T-5 | UCF | 6 | 0 | 164 | 4-0-1 |
| T-5 | Louisville | 7 | 0 | 164 | 4-0-1 |
| 7 | Syracuse | 4 | 0 | 156 | 3-0-2 |
| 8 | Duke | 10 | 0 | 146 | 4-0-1 |
| 9 | James Madison * | 8 | 0 | 132 | 4-0-1 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 20 | 0 | 130 | 4-0-1 |
| 11 | Portland | 3 | 0 | 113 | 3-1-0 |
| 12 | Vermont | 12 | 0 | 109 | 4-1-0 |
| 13 | Marquette | RV | 0 | 97 | 6-0-0 |
| 14 | Denver | 17 | 0 | 95 | 4-0-2 |
| 15 | Missouri State | 13 | 0 | 88 | 3-0-1 |
| 16 | Southern Methodist | 22 | 0 | 87 | 5-1-0 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh | RV | 0 | 61 | 2-2-1 |
| 18 | San Diego State | RV | 0 | 59 | 4-0-1 |
| 19 | Northwestern | NR | 0 | 53 | 5-0-1 |
| 20 | Wake Forest | 9 | 0 | 52 | 2-1-2 |
| 21 | New Hampshire | NR | 0 | 37 | 3-1-1 |
| 22 | San Diego | NR | 0 | 27 | 4-1-1 |
| 23 | Indiana | 15 | 0 | 16 | 2-2-1 |
| 24 | Kentucky * | 19 | 0 | 12 | 3-2-0 |
| 25 | Cornell | NR | 0 | 11 | 2-1-0 |
RECEIVING VOTES: Georgetown (10), Oral Roberts (7), Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (6), Florida International (6) * , UCLA (4), Loyola Marymount (4), Fordham (3), Memphis (3), Washington (2), Seton Hall (2), Bryant (1), California-Irvine (1), Penn State (1).
* Denotes UCF 2023 opponent