The Northwestern Wildcats remained on top of the poll, but they lost a couple first-place votes as the race for the No. 1 spot tightened. Syracuse, who stayed at No. 2, picked up nine first-place votes and now sits just five points behind NU. Florida picked up the other first-place vote and moved up to No. 4. The same 20 schools from last week remained in the rankings. Voting took place before games on Monday. The ALC continues to lead all conferences with six ranked teams, which includes all member schools sponsoring a team in 2012. Northwestern leads the ALC, holding on to the No. 1 spot; Florida also sits in the top-four at No. 4. Penn State jumps up to No. 8, giving the league three schools in the top-eight. Ohio State moves to No. 13, while Johns Hopkins (No. 19) and Vanderbilt (No. 20) round out the poll. The ACC claims five schools in the top-20, starting with North Carolina at No. 3. Maryland moves to No. 5 while Duke falls to No. 7. Virginia moves back into the top-10 at No. 9, while Boston College falls to No. 18. The Big East has four schools in the ranking, with two sitting in the top-six. Syracuse, with nine first-place votes, holds at No. 2 while Notre Dame rises to No. 6. No. 14 Loyola and No. 15 Georgetown both hold their positions from last week. The Ivy League also has four ranked schools, led by Pennsylvania at No. 10. Dartmouth starts off the second half of the poll at No. 11, followed by Cornell at No. 12. Princeton jumps up three spots to land at No. 17. Massachusetts from the Atlantic-10 holds steady at No. 16. The ACC final on Monday night featured No. 3 North Carolina against No. 5 Maryland. On Wednesday, the top-ranked Wildcats welcome No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 5 Maryland hosts No. 15 Georgetown, and No. 17 Princeton takes on No. 10 Penn in a key Ivy League game. On Friday, No. 2 Syracuse welcomes No. 14 Loyola. Saturday features four games between ranked teams, starting with No. 1 Northwestern hosting No. 9 Virginia. No 7 Duke welcomes No. 10 Penn, No. 8 Penn State takes on No. 17 Princeton, and No. 19 Johns Hopkins plays No. 13 Ohio State in Baltimore. 

Also receiving votes: Harvard, Stony Brook, Towson.
This is the ninth regular-season IWLCA poll of the 2012 season; the next poll will be released on May 1.