Another weekend, another ranked win for Michigan State women’s soccer as the Spartans took down the No. 12 team in the country at DeMartin Stadium in East Lansing.
Jeff Hosler’s team picked up a second ranked win over the past three games, beating No. 12 Colorado on Sunday afternoon to improve to 4-0-1. Emerson Sargeant scored the teams only goals after Colorado was credited with an own goal on a failed clear-out to begin the game. It was 3-0 Michigan State at halftime and Colorado made things interesting, but this was a relatively stress-free win for the green and white.
Before the win, Michigan State was the No. 3 team in the country and it was staring at a drop in the rankings thanks to a 0-0 tie against Eastern Michigan earlier in the week, but that no longer looks to be the case.
This comes just one week after the Spartans went to Chapel Hill and beat No. 6 North Carolina 3-2 and really made a statement nationally. Michigan State jumped from No. 5 in the polls to third after the win. After another ranked win, Michigan State is making a legitimate case for No. 1 in the nation.
Following a second ranked win to start the 2026 season, Michigan State will be hoping to rise in the United Soccer Coaches rankings and the Spartans will have a legit case as one of the nation’s only teams to have multiple ranked wins.
Will they jump to No. 1 in the new poll?
Did Michigan State do enough to earn that No. 1 ranking?
Let me preface this by saying that Hosler has been a genius hire and he’s led the Spartans to back-to-back Big Ten titles and they went to the Elite Eight last year, but this team might just be his best yet.
Have they done enough through the first three weeks of the season to earn that No. 1 ranking, though?
There’s definitely a case to be made, but the Eastern Michigan tie will likely keep Michigan State at No. 3 this week, especially since No. 1 Stanford won both of its games, including a 3-0 victory over No. 17 UCLA. As for the No. 2 team, Duke is 5-0-1 after picking up two more wins this week. The Blue Devils out-scored VCU and Old Dominion 8-1 this week and they have a win at No. 9 UCLA already.
That lopsided week in favor of Duke will likely keep it at No. 2 and Michigan State right behind at three. But that gap is closing between No. 2 and No. 3.
Hosler might have the Spartans at No. 1 sooner rather than later, especially with Duke and Stanford facing each other in two weeks.
The chase for a third straight Big Ten titles is alive and well.
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