Every Wednesday, we will post the College Power Rankings here on the front page to facilitate discussion in the comments and serve as a permalink for each week’s rankings.
The most volatile team in our ranking set over the season’s first couple months, Ohio State is back up to #3 after a tournament win at a very rainy Commonwealth Cup. They knocked off #4 North Carolina in the semifinals — the Pleiades first loss of the season — before claiming a victory via Dartmouth forfeit, robbing us of a rematch from the epic Florida Winter Classic final.
While a number of ranked squads were in action in Axton last weekend, the primary drivers of change to the rankings were the rise of UNC Wilmington and the fall of Tufts. Seaweed has had some up-and-down results this seas, but avenged a QCTU loss to Tufts with a six-goal victory over Ewo at Commonwealth Cup and move up to #18. Tufts was bested by a trio of Tar Heel state squads en route to a disappointing 9th place finish and fall eleven spots this week.
With their pool play victory over Tufts and a run to the Commonwealth quarterfinals, NC State reenters the rankings at #23 after a few weeks on the outside. Their inclusion mean the dismissal of a Whitman squad who has yet to lace them up in sanctioned play this spring.
Oberlin was impressive at Commonwealth Cup, playing well even against some of the nation’s top college teams. An appearance in the quarterfinals and respectable five-point effort against two-time defending D-I champs Dartmouth were enough to see Preying Manti climb up three spots to #3.
Former #3 Puget Sound fell eight spots after losing in the semifinals of PLU BBQ. Tournament champions Portland are the biggest gainers this week, climbing from near the bottom of the board up to #10 after earning wins over #16 Pacific Lutheran and #14 Lewis & Clark, who knocked out UPS.
After an impressive run to the final of the Oak Creek Challenge against a number of D-I schools, Brandeis enters the rankings for the first time this season, clocking in at #17. While all teams below shifted down a spot to accommodate the debutants, this was the only change in the rankings this week.
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