There finally was some movement in the Week 3 CWPA rankings, starting with a few changes in the top 10. The Stanford Cardinal moved up to the No. 3 spot after defeating Cal by one goal at the NorCal Invitational who themselves dropped one spot from three to four.
The Brown Bears make the biggest jump as they moved from No. 19 to No. 13, and are the highest rated East Coast team. Brown moved up after going 3-0 with wins over then No. 13 Princeton Tigers, then No. 19 St. Francis Terriers and George Washington Colonials. This was Brown's second straight weekend to defeat Princeton, and this week they were rewarded for the win.
| Rank | Team | September 12 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of Southern California |
1 | 100 |
| 2 | University of California-Los Angeles |
2 | 95 |
| 3 | Stanford Univiersity |
4 | 90 |
| 4 | University of California |
3 | 85 |
| 5 | University of California-Irvine |
6 | 80 |
| 6 | University of California-Santa Barbara |
5 | 75 |
| 7 | Pepperdine University |
8 | 70 |
| 8 | University of the Pacific |
7 | 65 |
| 9 | Long Beach State University |
9 | 60 |
| 10 | Loyola Marymount University |
10 | 55 |
| 11 | University of California-San Diego |
11 | 50 |
| 12 | University of California-Davis |
12 | 45 |
| 13 | Brown University | 19 | 35 |
| 14 | United States Air Force Academy |
16 | 31 |
| 15 | Princeton University |
13 | 25 |
| 16 | Santa Clara University |
14 | 24 |
| 17 | United States Naval Academy |
15 | 23 |
| 18 | California Baptist University |
17 | 17 |
| 19 | St. Francis College (N.Y.) |
20 | 14 |
| 20 | Concordia University (Calif.) |
18 | 12 |
| RV | Johns Hopkins University |
RV | 1 |
| RV | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
RV | 1 |