ORLANDO – Unbeaten through its first three matches of the 2024 fall campaign, the UCF men’s soccer team jumped back into the United Soccer Coaches’ top 20 ahead of its fourth contest of the season, slotted as the No. 17 team in the nation as announced by the organization Tuesday afternoon.
The Knights, ranked No. 19 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason top 25 rankings, dropped to No. 21 in the week one poll last week before moving up to No. 17 in week two.
Three of the Black and Gold’s Sun Belt Conference mates were also included in the most recent rankings, with the West Virginia Mountaineers most notably earning seven of eight first-place votes as the nation’s newest No. 1 team.
The Marshall Thundering Herd remained among the nation’s top 10 at No. 7, and the Kentucky Wildcats made the jump to No. 16 after being ranked No. 23 in last week’s rankings. The Seattle Redhawks represent the fourth 2024 opponent of UCF to be included in the poll, remaining at No. 11.
COMPLETE UNITED SOCCER COACHES 2024 WEEK 2 POLL
| Rank | School | Previous | First-Place Votes | Total Points | W-L-T |
| 1 | West Virginia * | 4 | 7 | 197 | 3-0-0 |
| 2 | Clemson | 1 | 1 | 182 | 1-0-1 |
| 3 | Denver | 9 | 0 | 169 | 2-0-2 |
| 4 | Western Michigan | 5 | 0 | 156 | 3-0-1 |
| 5 | Stanford | 13 | 0 | 146 | 3-1-0 |
| 6 | UCLA | 10 | 0 | 145 | 2-0-1 |
| 7 | Marshall * | 2 | 0 | 144 | 2-1-0 |
| 8 | Pittsburgh | 3 | 0 | 127 | 3-1-0 |
| 9 | Northwestern | 12 | 0 | 113 | 4-0-0 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 22 | 0 | 108 | 4-0-0 |
| 11 | Seattle * | 11 | 0 | 107 | 1-0-1 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 17 | 0 | 97 | 3-0-1 |
| 13 | VCU | 14 | 0 | 86 | 2-0-1 |
| 14 | Georgetown | 16 | 0 | 81 | 2-1-1 |
| 15 | Louisville | 15 | 0 | 78 | 3-0-0 |
| 16 | Kentucky * | 23 | 0 | 70 | 1-0-1 |
| 17 | UCF | 21 | 0 | 67 | 1-0-2 |
| 18 | Portland | 8 | 0 | 57 | 2-1-0 |
| 19 | Saint Louis | 6 | 0 | 56 | 1-1-1 |
| 20 | Syracuse | 7 | 0 | 48 | 2-1-1 |
| 21 | Ohio State | 20 | 0 | 44 | 3-0-1 |
| T-22 | Seton Hall | 25 | 0 | 42 | 3-0-0 |
| T-22 | SMU | RV | 0 | 42 | 2-0-2 |
| T-24 | Hofstra | RV | 0 | 35 | 3-0-1 |
| T-24 | Pennsylvania | NR | 0 | 35 | 1-0-0 |
RECEIVING VOTES: Washington (32), Charlotte (31), Virginia Tech (19), Michigan (15), Oral Roberts (15), Oregon State (14), Grand Canyon (9), Rhode Island (8), Elon (7), North Carolina-Greensboro (6), Nebraska-Omaha (4), UC Santa Barbara (4), San Diego (3), George Mason (1).
UP NEXT
The 17th-ranked Knights conclude their season-opening four-match homestand against the UC Irvine Anteaters at the UCF Soccer Complex Friday evening. Kickoff for the contest is slated for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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