Fall Classics
AFTER USC'S 70-17 thrashing of Arkansas last Saturday, there's little doubt who the top college football team in the country is. But which school has the best overall fall sports program?
SI ON CAMPUS has ranked Division I schools based on their performance so far. (A school's football record was given slightly more weight.) Here are the top five. The complete results are at SIonCampus.com.
5. TEXAS Football is king in Austin--the Longhorns, led by quarterback Vince Young (left), are No. 2 in the country--but the men's cross-country team is ninth in the U.S., thanks to senior Jon Von Letscher, who won the Indiana Community 5K Run.
4. WAKE FOREST Who needs football? Who needs men? The Demon Deacons' top-ranked field hockey team is 5-0 and boasts a 56-game nonconference winning streak. The women's soccer team (5-1-1) is almost as tough. Junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Doe is giving up less than a goal per game.
3. DUKE Another school at which women rule in the fall: the cross-country, field hockey and soccer teams are all in their respective top 10s--and the No. 7 soccer team will get better now that its best player, Kate Seibert (right), is healthy again.
2. NORTH CAROLINA The football team is struggling, but the f√∫tbol program is the nation's best. Both the men's and women's soccer teams are undefeated.
1. NOTRE DAME The cross-country and soccer programs are off to their usual solid starts, and bonus points go to the women's volleyball team: the surprise winner of the USTA Dome Rally has climbed to No. 8. An OT loss to Michigan State last Saturday caused the Irish to drop in the football rankings, but South Bend is still clearly the capital of college sports.
NOW ON SIONCAMPUS.COM
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JEFFERY A. SALTER (COVER)
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KARL WRIGHT/ICON SMI (YOUNG)
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BRAD SMITH/ICON SMI (SEIBERT)
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BOB MARTIN (NOTRE DAME MASCOT)