2026 Men's Soccer Polls and RPI thread

[AkronAlumnus]

I’ve been curious about how teams are actually ranked in the USCP poll, so take these four teams for example:

 

Georgetown — No. 3 — 9-1-1
Creighton — No. 6 — 10-0-3
Akron — No. 12 — 7-1-2
Xavier — No. 18 — 8-0-2

 

It’s a little weird to me that Georgetown is ranked higher than Creighton and Xavier despite having a loss, especially given that Creighton and Xavier are undefeated.  How are ties evaluated in the rankings?  I assume that in a draw, one team may have played better and been disappointed with the result, while the other team may have been pretty happy to come away with a tie.  Do they take that into consideration at all?

 

Basically, how much weight do they put on losses vs. ties?  And what other factors are they looking at that could explain the order of these four teams?   

[Zips1991]

51 minutes ago, AkronAlumnus said:

I’ve been curious about how teams are actually ranked in the USCP poll, so take these four teams for example:

 

Georgetown — No. 3 — 9-1-1
Creighton — No. 6 — 10-0-3
Akron — No. 12 — 7-1-2
Xavier — No. 18 — 8-0-2

 

It’s a little weird to me that Georgetown is ranked higher than Creighton and Xavier despite having a loss, especially given that Creighton and Xavier are undefeated.  How are ties evaluated in the rankings?  I assume that in a draw, one team may have played better and been disappointed with the result, while the other team may have been pretty happy to come away with a tie.  Do they take that into consideration at all?

 

Basically, how much weight do they put on losses vs. ties?  And what other factors are they looking at that could explain the order of these four teams?   

Without looking at their schedules and just going based on my memory, I seem to remember that Georgetown lost on the road to a very good Maryland team. And they've also played a very tough schedule including our Zips.

Akron's only loss came to G'Town so that didn't hurt us very much. I have not seen Xavier's schedule but I don't remember too many (if any) big wins so I think they've probably not played a great schedule.

[UAZipster0305]

4 minutes ago, Zips1991 said:

Without looking at their schedules and just going based on my memory, I seem to remember that Georgetown lost on the road to a very good Maryland team. And they've also played a very tough schedule including our Zips.

Akron's only loss came to G'Town so that didn't hurt us very much. I have not seen Xavier's schedule but I don't remember too many (if any) big wins so I think they've probably not played a great schedule.

Yes, Georgetown lost on the road 3-2 to Maryland. Great crowd for that game. I watched on TV. Maryland is VERY good!

[csims0917]

Could the Big East get 4 teams a bye in the tournament? Feels very possible right about now. 

[AkronAlumnus]

3 hours ago, Zips1991 said:

Without looking at their schedules and just going based on my memory, I seem to remember that Georgetown lost on the road to a very good Maryland team. And they've also played a very tough schedule including our Zips.

Akron's only loss came to G'Town so that didn't hurt us very much. I have not seen Xavier's schedule but I don't remember too many (if any) big wins so I think they've probably not played a great schedule.

That makes sense.  I think strength of schedule is probably a big part of what I was missing.

 

I guess I’m still wondering how they weigh different results against each other.  For example, is a tie against a top-25 team viewed as better than a win against an unranked team?  Or does a tie against an unranked team hurt worse than a loss to a ranked team?  And do they look beyond the result itself—shots, possession, fouls, etc.—or is it mainly about the result and strength of schedule?

 

That’s really what I was getting at with those four teams. I understand why a loss to a highly ranked Maryland team might not hurt Georgetown much, and I certainly don’t think UA should be ahead of them after losing the H2H.  I’m just curious how that compares to Creighton and Xavier being unbeaten.

Edited 35 minutes ago by AkronAlumnus

[AkronAlumnus]

Excuse my ignorance btw, I am VERY new to soccer especially the college game.