Mustang revival

Six newbies highlight this week's NSCAA/adidas national rankings, and although three of those debuted tied at twenty-fifth (that would be Brown, Yale and Wisconsin, Milwaukee), two traditionally strong programs arrive in much higher poll positions.

Thanks to a six-game winning streak, Southern Methodist reappears at number eleven after two months in the unranked wilderness. SMU welcomed two C-USA foes from the Sunshine State to Dallas last weekend, extending its streak and perfect conference record (6-0) with wins over Central Florida and Florida International.

The national recognition is just desserts for the Mustangs, who entered the season seventh but fell out of contention completely after September setbacks to nationally-ranked Indiana, Notre Dame, and New Mexico. Now, SMU holds the top spot in the Midwest Region. The timing couldn't be better for fans across the country. We'll see if Schellas Hyndman's men can extend their respective streaks when Duke Hashimoto and Co. face underachieving Tulsa Friday on Fox Soccer Channel's game of the week (8 p.m. ET).

Meanwhile, the Creighton Blue Jays are also back among the ranked, sitting 15th. Like SMU, Creighton has been flawless in league play with a 3-0 record in the Mountain West. The Jays' dominating 2-0 win over previously undefeated Missouri State (then ninth) last week was followed by a 3-2 triumph versus Bradley, good enough to vault the Omaha school into the reckoning once again.

If you missed it, you missed out. Atlantic Coast powers Maryland and North Carolina faced off on national television in last Friday's game of the week, which ended 4-1 in favor of the Terps. Despite the lopsided final, those who tuned saw that the game was much closer than the result indicates. But as it often the case, the difference came down to finishing.

The Tar Heels had the bulk of the first-half possession but failed to convert on bevy of early chances. In-form Maryland took their opportunities with aplomb, netting twice in two minutes midway through the opening stanza in College Park. It was four-nil ten minutes into the second half before Brian Shriver pulled back a consolation goal for UNC, which dropped their third straight conference game and are now 1-3-1 in the ACC.

The loss knocked the Tar Heels back five places to tenth nationally while Maryland goes from twelfth to eighth. The Terrapins are now firmly back on track with five straight wins (six straight against ranked foes). Oh, and Hermann Trophy frontrunner Jason Garey scored his fifth goal in five games.

As we predicted, Akron retained its number one spot in all four polls by bowling over Ohio rival Bowling Green, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon. But what is surprising is that Old Dominion has quietly taken over the number two spot in the NSCAA/adidas rankings with former consensus top dog New Mexico falling to third. The Monarchs moved up with consecutive 1-0 wins over Northeastern and Hofstra and OD is unbeaten in its last eight while keeping seven clean sheets. Senior striker Brian Cvilikas notched his tenth tally of the season against the Long Islanders. With a four point cushion atop the CAA standings and an easy end-of-season schedule (after playing pesky Virginia Commonwealth on Friday, at least), Old Dominion is a tourney lock.

Donšt look now, but the wheels have fallen off in Albuquerque. A week after losing its top ranking by failing to beat Air Force, New Mexico was stunned at home by the lowly San Jose State Spartans. The Lobos have been anything but convincing of late, going into overtime in four of their last five contests. Senior Hermann candidate Jeff Rowland hasn't scored in four games and the team has been further unsettled by the absence of coach/guru Jeremy Fishbein, who was away attending to family matters last weekend. The good news is that despite losing for the first time in nineteen outings, New Mexico still sits third in the country.

Upsets? We got upsets. The one that jumps off the page is Virginia Tech's 4-0 trouncing of then-eleventh N.C. State, who we'd repped last week as the coaches' poll's biggest gainer. The loss snapped State's five-game winning streak but set them back only three places. Another pasting though, and the Wolfpack will be judged much more harshly. And how about unranked South Florida shutting down then-fourth St. John's? The final was only 1-0, but the Bulls dominated, outshooting the Red Strom by a whopping 21-8 margin. Speaking of USF, check out the fantastic Oct. 14 St. Pete Times article on South Florida sophomore and former youth national teamer Rodrigo Hidalgo (long live Google). Something tells us wešll be hearing plenty more about this remarkable kid.

Out west, UCLA is staying consistent. They have the stingiest D in the country (tied with San Diego State) and they still can't score goals for the life of them. The Bruins had a pair of scoreless stalemates last week (vs. impressive Cal State Northridge and the aforementioned S.D. State)

On the bright side: Goalkeeper Eric Reed (who's got a ridiculous .30 goals-against average) is looking like the next great backstop to come out of the Westwood keeper factory, and U.S. U-20 backs Patrick Ianni and Marvell Wynne have been named to the Hermann watch list.

Tube Time: In addition to Friday's SMU-Tulsa game of the week, look out for these upcoming televised tilts (check your local listings):

Doug McIntyre is a soccer columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPNsoccernet.