The CCA Editors will be providing weekly updated Power Rankings for the twenty CRL Spring teams with info, results, and outlooks for teams throughout the rest of the season. The rankings combine both East and West Conference teams and are based on our opinions. Rankings are completed by bennyS, Vitali, Parkour Penguin, Phat, and Jamaican.
1. Northwood University (7-0)
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- The reigning CRL Champs are back for more as they’ve played more matches than any other team this season, and are sitting undefeated at 7-0. No argument across the board as all the rankers agreed on Northwood as the strongest team across both conferences. The stats only go to show their strength even more, as Noxes leads the East in goals/game, while Buddy leads the East in assists/game. Meanwhile none of the Northwood guys shows on the Saves leaderboard because well… no one can even get more than a few shots off on them.
2. Louisiana State University (5-0)
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- Another unanimous result for the rankers, as LSU appears to be the strongest of the West. There was some concern about how this team would perform after roster questions throughout the offseason, but they’ve come alive with Ayyjacks scoring at an incredible pace. His 1.57 goals/game leads all of CRL, while BrohnB sits right behind him with 1.29. If you’re wondering where these goals are coming from, look no further than BrohnB’s CRL leading 1.14 assists/game, and Lohtek’s .93. It’s fair to say this team has one of the most explosive offenses in CRL, we’ll just have to see if anyone in the West can catch them off guard.
3. University of North Texas (5-1)
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- We finally had a disagreement among the editors, as we were pretty split between UNT and Akron. North Texas wins out for now, due to their strong play against some of the other top teams in the west, only dropping a 3-0 series to LSU. Convincing 3-1 wins over Arizona and UT Dallas have helped keep UNT’s stock towards the top, while a 3-2 win over CSUF has been their only close call. It seems like UNT’s progress in the rankings depends on how well they can continue to fend off the lower West teams, while even a win over LSU might not be enough to pass the current top West team in the rankings.
4. University of Akron (5-0)
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- The last of the three undefeated teams in CRL to this point, Akron finds themselves below UNT mostly due to their early-season schedule not really showing enough of what Akron has to offer. Vitali explains that they “beat UCF with tristn who is their sub this season, but the other teams they’ve beaten are Durham, Florida Poly, and Virginia (twice) who are 6, 7, and 9 in the East, respectively”. We’ll need to see what more the Zips can do with their new 3rd Buttinz against some of the top East teams before we can realistically know what this team can do across the board.
5. University of Central Florida (2-2)
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- The rankings become murkier now, as we hit the middle of the road teams all playing around .500 to this point. While a 2-2 start is not what UCF envisioned for their season, it’s not quite as bad as it looks, with both losses coming from Akron and Northwood. As UCF gets more matches under their belt against the rest of the East, their record should improve. The Knights will have to clean up their wins over teams they should be beating handily; they nearly dropped a close 3-2 series to Florida Poly. They’re in control of their fate for the rest of the season, as any losses to some of the lower teams might see them drop in ranking, while beating Akron or Northwood in their 2nd matchup could give them a boost into the top four.
6. University of Arizona (3-2)
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- Arizona is off to a good start, although all three of their wins come against teams ranked 14th and lower (spoiler alert). Despite losing 3-0 to CSUF, most rankers have them higher due to overall CRL experience and CSUF’s own losses looking a little worse than Arizona, who’s only other loss came to UNT. We’ll need to see more from Arizona against the mid 50% of the West, as well as how they shape up against the LSU squad to get a real read on this team. For now, the editorial team as a whole likes Arizona’s odds the second time around against CSUF, and the rest of the west.
7. UT Dallas (2-3)
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- A rocky start to the season has them sitting under .500 heading into week 2, but it isn’t all doom and gloom for this squad. With 2 of their 3 losses coming against LSU and UNT, UTD has a great chance to turn things around with the remaining games. I’m sure they’d like to have their 2-3 loss to TTU back, but they will look to take their second matchup and lock in a top-four seed in the West moving towards playoffs. Coming off a fall season where they made the National Championships, this team should certainly be favoured to make it back into the playoffs.
8. Florida Poly (2-4)
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- FPU was expected to be a middle-of-the-road CRL East team like they were back in the fall, and seem to be holding true to that currently. We believe they have the potential for much more though. With 3 of their 4 losses coming against the east top three (NU, Akron, UCF), there is plenty of time for Florida to go on a run and end with a great record. Losses to Northwood and UCF being 2-3 will also aid their game differential and help solidify them against other teams competing for that 4th seed. Outstanding play from Bobsto (3rd in CRL in points/game) can make a real difference if he can keep it up while the rest of his team catches up.
9. CSUF Titans (2-3)
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- Most of the editorial team was in agreement on CSUF, placing them in the 9-11 range. Solid play including a surprising 3-0 against Arizona has us hopeful for this team, while an equally surprising 2-3 loss to MS&T has us questioning their consistency. Their other two losses come against the top two in the west, so there are still a lot of interesting matches left for CSUF to show us the kind of team they are. Phat had CSUF all the way up at 6th, saying the MS&T loss was a “playstyle counter which they still almost won”. No matter which way you lean, the middle of the pack is nearly impossible to agree on.
10. UNC Charlotte (3-3)
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- Starting to become a theme this season, UNCC is yet another team that has had both bright spots and some pretty bad ones too. Currently sitting 3rd in the east standings, they are one of only three East teams with a positive game differential (alongside Akron and Northwood). Their wins have all come against teams below them in the rankings though, combined with a few concerning losses including a 0-3 to Florida Poly, as well as a 2-3 loss to Durham (handing the Lords their first and only win up until this point). They’re also yet to play Northwood or Akron which are sure to be tough matches.
11. University of South Florida (2-3)
12. Stockton University (1-3)
13. University of Virginia (2-4)
14. Texas Tech University (3-3)
15. Durham College (1-4)
16. UT Arlington (1-4)
17. Washington State University (2-4)
18. Ohio State Beanz (0-2)
19. Missouri S&T (1-4)
NR. University of Oregon (0-0)
