Unranked during the regular season, Fordham University finished a strong 11th in the final NCAA men’s Division I poll of the season, the United Soccer Coaches announced Tuesday afternoon.
Columbia University took the 25th spot after a 12-3-3 season in which is excelled in the Ivy League.
The Rams’ high ranking was fueled by its historic run during the College Cup playoffs as they reached the quarterfinals.
They began by overcoming a late one-goal deficit to defeat St. Francis Brooklyn at home in the opening round, 3-1.
Fordham (14-6-3), which competes in the Atlantic 10, then pulled off two upsets in Atlantic Coast Conference country. First, the Bronx-based school stunned 11th-seeded University of Virginia in the second round on the road, 1-0, and overcame sixth-seeded Duke University away from home in the Sweet Sixteen in a shootout, 8-7, after playing to a 2-2 draw.
The Rams’ run ended with a 2-1 defeat at the fourth-ranked University of North Carolina Dec. 2.
It was the farthest Fordham had advanced in the NCAA tournament.
Not surprisingly, Stanford University (19-2-2) took the top spot after capturing its third consecutive national championship on Sunday.
Led by head coach Jeremy Gunn and MAC Hermann Trophy finalist Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Stanford joined the University of Virginia (1991-1994) as the only teams in NCAA Division I men’s soccer history to win three successive titles with an extratime victory over No. 2-ranked Indiana in the College Cup final at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Penn.
The Cardinal, which was ranked No. 1 nationally in the pre-season poll, also became the first school to win NCAA D-I titles in both men’s and women’s soccer in the same year.
NCAA D-I Men – Final Postseason Ranking (December 12, 2017)
School | Points | Prev | W-L-T |
Stanford University | 597 | 3 | 19-2-2 |
Indiana University | 576 | 2 | 18-1-6 |
University Of Akron | 542 | 4 | 18-4-2 |
University Of North Carolina | 537 | 7 | 17-4-1 |
Wake Forest University | 502 | 1 | 19-2-2 |
Michigan State University | 470 | 15 | 13-3-4 |
University Of Louisville | 465 | 9 | 13-2-5 |
Southern Methodist University | 395 | 10 | 17-3-1 |
Western Michigan University | 372 | 6 | 17-4-1 |
University Of Wisconsin | 356 | 20 | 12-5-5 |
Fordham University | 347 | NR | 14-6-3 |
Butler University | 317 | 19 | 14-5-2 |
Duke University | 306 | 14 | 13-4-3 |
University of New Hampshire | 254 | RV | 13-4-5 |
Coastal Carolina University | 238 | RV | 14-7-1 |
Georgetown University | 226 | 11 | 14-4-2 |
Clemson University | 200 | 5 | 12-6-1 |
University of Notre Dame | 180 | 12 | 11-8-3 |
University Of Virginia | 157 | 8 | 14-4-5 |
Florida International University | 144 | 13 | 12-2-4 |
Colgate University | 107 | NR | 12-11-1 |
University Of Michigan | 93 | 16 | 12-6-2 |
Dartmouth College | 90 | 17 | 13-3-2 |
Seattle University | 68 | 23 | 15-4-4 |
Columbia University | 61 | RV | 12-3-3 |
Also receiving votes: Old Dominion University (43), United States Air Force Academy (39), University of the Pacific (38), Albany, University at (25), Virginia Commonwealth University (25), Virginia Tech (13), University of North Carolina-Wilmington (7), University Of California (4), University Of Massachusetts (4), University Of San Francisco (2)