Kentucky Men's Soccer ranked No. 3 in Preseason Poll

After a standout 2022 season, Kentucky Men’s Soccer will start the 2023 campaign as a top-three team. United Soccer Coaches announced its preseason men’s NCAA Division I college soccer rankings this afternoon and Kentucky is No. 3. Syracuse is No. 1 in the poll, followed by Indiana (boo, Indiana).

Kentucky ended 2022 ranked No. 6 in the poll after an undefeated regular season and Sweet 16 appearance. It was the Wildcats’ first season in the Sun Belt Conference and they finished with a 15-1-15 record (5-0-3 conference), winning both the regular season title and conference championship.

Eleven members of last year’s squad return for the 2023 season, with 13 new faces coming on board. Kentucky holds its first exhibition match vs. Southern Indiana at 3 p.m. on August 13 at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex. Admission is free and it will serve as the team’s Fan Day, with autograph and photo opportunities available after the match. The second exhibition match takes place at Northern Kentucky on August 19.

Kentucky hosts Florida Gulf Coast in its regular season opener on August 24. In total, the Cats will play 10 matches at The Bell (you can read a breakdown of the 2023 schedule here). Single-match or season tickets are available on Ticketmaster.

Go Cats.

United Soccer Coaches Top 25 – Preseason (August 1)

Rank	School	Prev	1st Votes	Total Points	2022 W-L-T
1	Syracuse University	1	4	188	18-2-5
2	Indiana University	2	1	180	14-4-7
3	University of Kentucky	6	1	172	15-1-5
4	Duke University	3	1	167	13-2-4
5	University of Pittsburgh	8	0	154	12-5-5
6	University of Washington	11	0	143	15-2-3
7	Stanford University	7	0	142	12-2-6
8	Creighton University	9	0	127	13-5-6
9	Clemson University	13	0	113	13-7-1
10	University of North Carolina-Greensboro	5	0	111	13-2-6
11	Marshall University	12	1	109	11-4-4
12	University of Vermont	4	0	102	16-4-2
13	University of Portland	10	0	92	15-3-3
14	University of Maryland	17	0	80	11-4-5
15	University of Virginia	16	0	78	10-4-5
16	University of Tulsa	15	0	74	10-5-2
17	Georgetown University	20	0	72	12-6-3
18	Wake Forest University	24	0	66	14-6-0
19	Southern Methodist University	18	0	64	10-6-1
20	Cornell University	14	0	63	14-4-1
21	Florida International University	19	0	53	13-5-2
22	University of Akron	23	0	50	11-4-5
23	University of New Hampshire	21	0	30	15-4-1
24	Saint Louis University	25	0	27	12-5-3
25	University of Pennsylvania	RV	0	24	13-3-2

Also receiving votes: UCLA (18), University of Denver (17), West Virginia University (15), Lipscomb University (14), Providence College (13), Western Michigan University (10), Rutgers University (10), Missouri State University (8), University of Louisville (7), Ohio State University (4), Oregon State University (2), University of South Carolina (1)