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 (54) | 1491 | 20-1 | 1 |
| 2 | Stanford (4) | 1412 | 18-2 | 2 |
| 3 | Oregon (2) | 1371 | 18-1 | 3 |
| 4 | Nebraska | 1342 | 17-2 | 4 |
| 5 | Washington | 1257 | 17-2 | 5 |
| 6 | UCLA | 1189 | 15-4 | 6 |
| 7 | USC | 1145 | 19-3 | 7 |
| 8 | Texas | 1062 | 16-3 | 8 |
| 9 | Hawai'i | 1029 | 17-2 | 9 |
| 10 | Minnesota | 953 | 17-4 | 10 |
| 11 | Florida | 894 | 17-2 | 11 |
| 12 | Florida State | 835 | 18-2 | 12 |
| 13 | Louisville | 754 | 20-3 | 15 |
| 14 | San Diego | 629 | 17-3 | 13 |
| 15 | Dayton | 584 | 17-4 | 18 |
| 16 | Kansas State | 519 | 18-3 | 14 |
| 17 | Kansas | 507 | 19-3 | 21 |
| 18 | BYU | 484 | 19-2 | 16 |
| 19 | Western Kentucky | 450 | 24-3 | 19 |
| 20 | Ohio State | 356 | 15-7 | 20 |
| 21 | Purdue | 258 | 14-7 | 17 |
| 22 | Iowa State | 245 | 11-7 | 22 |
| 23 | Pepperdine | 216 | 16-7 | 23 |
| 24 | Miami (FL) | 197 | 18-3 | 24 |
| 25 | St. Mary's (CA) | 81 | 11-9 | NR |
Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots: Tennessee 53; Marquette 37; Creighton 35; Illinois 30; North Carolina 18; Kentucky 15; Michigan State 10; N.C. State 10; Texas A&M 8; Oregon State 6; Arkansas 4
Five schools on only one ballot for a total of 14 combined points.
Dropped Out: Illinois 25
Next Poll: October 29, 2012
Poll conducted and distributed by the AVCA







