Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Ranked Preseason No. 1 (7-29-04)
7/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Bloomington, Ind. - College Soccer News released the first preseason poll of the 2004 season, and defending national championship Indiana sits atop the standings. The Hoosiers topped a list of 30 teams with another 20 teams receiving votes.
"The target on our back gets bigger every day," Indiana head coach Mike Freitag said. "It is definitely an honor to be ranked No. 1 coming into the year. The ranking shows how highly thought of Indiana soccer is. I don't really think it changes anything other than people gunning for us, but that happens with every IU team. Obviously, we like the fact that we are preseason No. 1, but we would much rather be ranked there come the end of the season."
The rankings also show how difficult the Hoosiers 2004 schedule will be with nine teams either ranked or receiving votes. Saint Louis tops the list of ranked Hoosier opponents as the Billikins are ranked fourth in the preseason poll. The Hoosiers will travel to Saint Louis on Oct. 31 for a 1:00 p.m. match.
The list of Hoosier opponents who find themselves ranked in the top 30 includes No. 11 Michigan (Oct. 10 at 2:30 p.m. in Bloomington), 13. UC-Santa Barbara (Sept. 18 at 5:00 p.m. in Albuquerque, N.M.), 14. Notre Dame (Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m. in Bloomington) and 28. New Mexico (Sept. 19 at 7:00 p.m. in Albuquerque, N.M.). Indiana will also take on Oregon State (Sept. 5 at 2:30 p.m. in Bloomington), Penn State (Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in State College, Pa.), Kentucky (Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Lexington) and Butler (Oct. 20 at 7:00 p.m. in Indianapolis) who are all receiving votes in the preseason poll.
Indiana will begin the season with exhibition action at the IPFW Soccer Showcase in Ft. Wayne, Ind. The Hoosiers will battle College Soccer News' preseason No. 2 St. John's in a rematch of last season's national title game. The game is set for 8:00 p.m. on Friday, August 20. Indiana will then close out its exhibition season with a match up against IPFW the following night at 8:00 p.m.
The Hoosiers will open up the 2004 regular season hosting the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. The Hoosiers will host Boston University (BU) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 3. Indiana will then take on Oregon State at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 5. BU and Oregon State will also face Notre Dame at the Classic. The Irish open the Classic up against Oregon State at 5:00 p.m. on Sept. 3. Notre Dame will then take on Boston at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. The Classic will be played on Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium.
College Soccer News Preseason Top 30
1. INDIANA
2. St. John's
3. North Carolina
4. Saint Louis
5. UCLA
6. Wake Forest
7. SMU
8. Virginia
9. Old Dominion
10. Washington
11. Michigan
12. Maryland
13. UC-Santa Barbara
14. Notre Dame
15. Coastal Carolina
16. Santa Clara
17. Tulsa
18. Connecticut
19. Virginia Commonwealth
20. California
21. Virginia Tech
22. Binghamton
23. Florida International
24. Portland
25. Akron
26. Seton Hall
27. Creighton
28. New Mexico
29. UAB
30. Brown
Others Receiving Votes: Clemson, Rutgers, LMU, San Diego, Penn State, UWM, South Florida, UMBC, Duke, Oakland, George Mason, Oregon State, Kentucky, C.S. Northridge, San Jose State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Furman, Butler, Duquesne, UNC-Greensboro.
