We're #1? Hoosiers on top for now

Ahh…August in Bloomington. Students are coming back to campus by the thousands, construction on Kirkwood Avenue continues and the IU men's soccer team takes its place atop the national poll. Some things never seem to change.\nAnd while the Hoosiers have earned the top spot by winning back-to-back national championships, this is a new year and the question must be asked, "Are we really No. 1?"\nTo date, the only group to tackle that question has been the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). But looking at the top six teams in the poll (IU, Santa Clara, UCLA, Connecticut, Furman and Penn State), it makes one wonder how much work they put into their preseason list. It is no coincidence that the teams in last year's Champion's Cup "earned" the top four spots, while Furman and Penn State were conveniently placed in the fifth and sixth positions, the order in which they finished a season ago.\n So were the coaches too busy to vote? Perhaps uninterested? Uninspired? Well, in reality, they were not even asked to vote ' the NSCAA preseason poll has traditionally been the order of finish in the College Cup, with few teams switched around from places 5-25 to reflect personnel changes. \nSo, while the Hoosiers sit atop the NSCAA's preseason perch, those in the program have a better sense of where this year's squad is at. \n"We lost five starters, three of them All-Americans," coach Jerry Yeagley said. "We're trying to develop a young team. And for them to even consider us No. 1 at this point is strictly on what we did in past."\nAnd while the Hoosiers have every right to claim their place as one of the nation's top teams this season, the squad may not deserve the top spot, at least not yet. \n"I think we have some work cut out for us," junior midfielder Ryan Mack said. "We have tons of freshmen, so it's going to be a little hard to tell if we're No. 1 right at the beginning of the season. I think that it might take a little bit of time to get the new players into the key roles on the team."\nSo the NSCAA bailed and took the easy way out on the poll. Big deal, right? Well, to squads such as Southwest Missouri State and Maryland-Baltimore County, the poll just might be a big deal. Both schools enjoyed the most successful soccer campaigns in their history last year. This season, both teams are ranked in the preseason poll, but they are slotted nine spots lower (13th and 22nd, respectively) than where they finished last season. So while these small schools struggle for respect, the nation's powerhouses continue to reap the rewards of their successful program's past. \nWhy then is it so hard for coaches, as well as publications such as Soccer America and USA Today, to get it right when it comes to the polls? Well, the fact that there is practically little to no national exposure for college soccer is the main struggling point. Take into account that so few games are covered by any media at all and you can deduce that pollsters have very little to go on, outside of that week's scores and the team's reputation.\nThough the system may be flawed, one can easily understand how the Hoosiers would start in the top spot this season in any poll. Yet everyone knows it's not how you start, but rather where you finish. \n"We're a new team looking for an identity and a personality," Yeagley said. "We've got a long way to go."\nAnd while the Hoosiers' "Road To Charlotte" may be a bit rougher than in the past, they will start their journey in a familiar spot, as "numero uno." Whether they will earn that spot throughout the season remains to be seen. But in the meantime, as Mel Brooks said, "It's good to be the king"