| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | UCLA | The Bruins always play tough defense and now Coach B.J. Snow has the offensive firepower to match. | |
| 2 |  | Wake Forest | No team is going to make it through the ACC without some blemishes on their record, but Wake is loaded. | |
| 3 |  | Stanford | With Emily Oliver in the goal and a defense full of seniors, Stanford will have time to replace their offensive losses. | |
| 4 |  | Florida State | A streaky Florida State squad a year ago should not be an experienced, consistent team with eyes on San Diego. | |
| 5 |  | Duke | The Duke offense came on strong in the NCAA Tournament. Will that carry over into the 2012 campaign? | |
| 6 |  | Virginia | Virginia will start the season without Coach Swanson and star Morgan Brian while they are at the U-20 World Cup. | |
| 7 |  | Florida | The Gators are loaded on offense with Erika Tymrak and Annie Speese leading the way and the defense now has experience. | |
| 8 |  | Oklahoma State | With Adrianna Franch is goal, OSU will be tough to score on. The scary thing is they can put the ball in the back of the net. | |
| 9 |  | North Carolina | The preseason ranking is not where UNC is used to being, but they could be up a few spots by November. | |
| 10 |  | Boston College | The Eagles have some reloading to do, but history has taught us that BC will be right in the mix in the ACC. | |
| 11 |  | Penn State | The nations leading goal scorer a year ago, Maya Hayes, is back to give the Big Ten opposition nightmares again. | |
| 12 |  | Texas A&M | The Aggies keep knocking on the College Cup door and the move to the SEC will have them prepared for a run. | |
| 13 |  | Maryland | Midfielder Olivia Wagner and forward Hayley Brock will help get the Coach Jonathan Morgan era off to a good start. | |
| 14 |  | Notre Dame | The Irish will have to rely on some new faces after a disappointing season, but they will not stay down for long. | |
| 15 |  | Memphis | Memphis has some pieces to replace, but they will still score with Christabel Oduro and Natalia Gomez-Junco. | |
| 16 |  | Auburn | Auburn can score lots of goals, but can their defense step up and stop the potent goal scorers in the SEC? | |
| 17 |  | Long Beach State | The expectations at Long Beach State have gone through the roof after their great NCAA Tournament run in 2011. | |
| 18 |  | Illinois | The Illini will score plenty of goals, but they will likely struggle keeping the ball out of the back of their own net. | |
| 19 |  | California | A host of teams will be looking to compete with Pac-12 favorites Stanford and UCLA, but Cal has the most talent. | |
| 20 |  | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech has the talent, but a brutal schedule could keep them down the ACC pecking order. | |
| 21 |  | Baylor | Baylor has some rebuilding to do, but Coach Jobson will reload instead and get BU back to the NCAA Tournament. | |
| 22 |  | Pepperdine | Pepperdine will be looking for revenge after being upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. | |
| 23 |  | Santa Clara | The Broncos stifling defense, along with Julie Johnston's scoring, will have the Broncos towards the top of the WCC. | |
| 24 |  | Ohio State | The Buckeyes have a few major holes to fill, but Coach Walker keeps bringing in the talent to compete in the Big Ten. | |
| 25 |  | West Virginia | West Virginia's streak of 12 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament should not end with a move to the Big 12. | |
Women's Soccer 2012 Preseason Top 25
Tue, 07/17/2012
