This article published on http://www.avca.org/ is copyrighted and may not be re-used without written permission from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. A web site may link directly to http://www.avca.org/web pages, but may not put AVCA stories directly on its own site without written permission from the AVCA.
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Total Points | 2012 Record | Previous Week |
| 1 | Penn State (55) | 1490 | 18-1 | 1 |
| 2 | Stanford (2) | 1380 | 16-2 | 4 |
| 3 | Oregon (3) | 1374 | 16-1 | 5 |
| 4 | Nebraska | 1348 | 15-2 | 3 |
| 5 | Washington | 1295 | 16-1 | 2 |
| 6 | UCLA | 1169 | 13-4 | 7 |
| 7 | USC | 1152 | 17-3 | 6 |
| 8 | Texas | 1054 | 15-3 | 9 |
| 9 | Hawai'i | 1037 | 15-2 | 8 |
| 10 | Minnesota | 941 | 15-4 | 10 |
| 11 | Florida | 882 | 15-2 | 11 |
| 12 | Florida State | 801 | 16-2 | 12 |
| 13 | San Diego | 791 | 16-2 | 13 |
| 14 | Kansas State | 701 | 17-2 | 14 |
| 15 | Louisville | 642 | 18-3 | 15 |
| 16 | BYU | 626 | 18-1 | 16 |
| 17 | Purdue | 521 | 14-5 | 17 |
| 18 | Dayton | 462 | 15-4 | 18 |
| 19 | Western Kentucky | 367 | 22-3 | 20 |
| 20 | Ohio State | 342 | 14-6 | 19 |
| 21 | Kansas | 259 | 17-3 | 21 |
| 22 | Iowa State | 201 | 10-6 | 23 |
| 23 | Pepperdine | 185 | 14-7 | 24 |
| 24 | Miami (FL) | 104 | 16-3 | NR |
| 25 | Illinois | 71 | 9-9 | 22 |
Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots: Kentucky 48; Marquette 41; St. Mary's (Ca.) 39; Michigan 33; Tennessee 32; Texas A&M 32; Creighton 22; North Carolina 14; Michigan State 11; Oklahoma 11; Oregon State 10; N.C. State 2
Two schools on only one ballot for a total of six combined points.
Dropped Out: Michigan State 25
Next Poll: October 22, 2012
Poll conducted and distributed by the AVCA
