| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | Indiana | Indiana saved their best for last, going through Xavier, Notre Dame, Creighton and Georgetown to win the title. | 14 |
| 2 |  | Georgetown | The Hoyas had an absolutely amazing season, but fell just a touch short of their ultimate goal in the finals. | 7 |
| 3 |  | Maryland | Maryland made a superb comeback against Georgetown in the national semifinals, but fell in penalty kicks. | 2 |
| 4 |  | Connecticut | The Huskies were a game away from reaching the College Cup and this is a program that will be back. | 6 |
| 5 |  | Creighton | Creighton made a surprising run to the College Cup, upsetting Akron and Connecticut along the way. | 12 |
| 6 |  | North Carolina | The Tar Heels ended up with a pretty easy road to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to IU. | 3 |
| 7 |  | Notre Dame | Notre Dame may have been the first upset victim of Indiana in the tournament, but they had a great overall season. | 4 |
| 8 |  | Akron | The Zips were another team that left the tournament earlier than hoped, but the overall season was impressive. | 1 |
| 9 |  | Louisville | With wins over Winthrop and Northwestern, Louisville reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. | 16 |
| 10 |  | New Mexico | New Mexico dominated the Mountain Pacific and earned the 13 seed in the tournament, where they lost to Uconn. | 10 |
| 11 |  | San Diego | There were a lot of great stories during the tournament, but the Cinderella title belongs to San Diego in 2012. | NR |
| 12 |  | Marquette | Marquette was upset by Northwestern in their first tournament game, but it was a fine season for a fine program. | 8 |
| 13 |  | UCLA | The Bruins did not just lose to San Diego in the second round of the tournament, they were dominated. | 5 |
| 14 |  | Coastal Carolina | Coastal Carolina was cruising through the tournament until they ran into a Maryland squad that looked unstopable. | 9 |
| 15 |  | Wake Forest | Wake Forest lost to those Chanticleers in the second round and never got a shot to knock off the Terps again. | 11 |
| 16 |  | Tulsa | Tulsa came on strong at the end of the 2012 campaign, but ran into that San Diego squad that was playing great. | NR |
| 17 |  | Northwestern | The Wildcats' big win in the NCAA Tournament came against Marquette. They followed it up with a loss to Louisville. | 19 |
| 18 |  | Syracuse | Syracuse was another surprise team in the tournament. They beat Cornell and VCU before falling to G'town in PK's. | NR |
| 19 |  | Virginia | UVA beat Lafayette in the first round, but New Mexico was too much for a Virginia squad that was a bit disappointing. | 25 |
| 20 |  | Washington | Washington put together a quality season and earned their first tournament trip, and win, since 2007. | 15 |
| 21 |  | St. Louis | Saint Louis fell in their tournament opener to surprise team Fairleigh Dickinson, but they still had a nice 16 win season. | 23 |
| 22 |  | Charlotte | Charlotte knocked off UAB in the first round of the tournament, but then ran into a destined Georgetown squad. | 18 |
| 23 |  | Xavier | Xavier was no match for Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but that was not a bad loss in the end. | 13 |
| 24 |  | Brown | Brown struggled down the stretch of the 2012 campaign, but they at least got a tournament win over Drexel. | 22 |
| 25 |  | VCU | VCU earned a bye and the 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament but, like the rest of the A-10, they made an early exit. | NR |
Men's Soccer Final Top 25 Rankings
Tue, 12/11/2012
