Through games of Dec. 19, 2002:
| # | Team | W-L | Pts. | Prev |
| 1 | Washington U. (22) | 9-0 | 619 | 1 |
| 2 | Bowdoin (2) | 6-0 | 595 | 2 |
| 3 | St. Benedict | 8-0 | 559 | 3 |
| 4 | Scranton | 8-0 | 544 | 4 |
| 5 | Hardin-Simmons (1) | 7-0 | 499 | 5 |
| 6 | Hope | 9-0 | 495 | 7 |
| 7 | DeSales | 9-0 | 485 | 8 |
| 8 | UW-Eau Claire | 9-1 | 423 | 10 |
| 9 | King's | 7-1 | 413 | 11 |
| 10 | Baldwin-Wallace | 9-1 | 407 | 6 |
| 11 | Carleton | 8-0 | 402 | 9 |
| 12 | Rochester | 6-0 | 342 | 12 |
| 13 | Southern Maine | 7-1 | 299 | 13 |
| 14 | UW-Stout | 9-2 | 254 | 14 |
| 15 | UW-Stevens Point | 9-2 | 234 | 15 |
| 16 | Eastern Connecticut | 8-1 | 209 | 17 |
| 17 | Salisbury | 7-1 | 201 | 16 |
| 18 | Gustavus Adolphus | 7-0 | 161 | 18 |
| 19 | Wilmington | 6-2 | 151 | 20 |
| 20 | St. Lawrence | 5-1 | 128 | 19 |
| 21 | DePauw | 8-2 | 113 | 22 |
| 22 | Messiah | 7-1 | 96 | — |
| 23 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 6-2 | 81 | 25 |
| 24 | Colby | 6-0 | 78 | 23 |
| 25 | Lebanon Valley | 5-1 | 50 | 24 |
Dropped out: No. 21 Whitworth
Others receiving votes: UW-Oshkosh 45; St. John
Fisher 42; Johns Hopkins 41; Whitworth 40; Mt. St. Mary 30; Lake
Forest 17; Ithaca 14; Simpson 10; Case Western 10; NYU 8; New
Jersey 8; Wesleyan 7; Mt. St. Joseph 5; Otterbein 4; Christopher
Newport 3; Hendrix 2; Catholic 1.