Red-Hot Florida tops USA Today/NFCA poll (4/28)
Red-Hot Florida tops USA Today/NFCA poll (4/28)
Riding a 15-game winning streak, Florida is the No. 1 team for the second straight week in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the Association.
The Gators (48-4) garnered all but three first-place votes, gathering a total of 29 and 797 points after picking up four wins over nationally-ranked squads. UF defeated in-state foe and then-No. 10 Florida State, 5-0 in a mid-week contest. They rolled into the weekend putting three SEC wins on the board against No. 25 Texas A&M (7-3 / 9-5 / 9-1). During their streak, the Gators are 10-0 against top-25 squads.
Oregon, which picked up the other three first-place votes and 771 points, swept a late season non-conference top-10 series from then No. 9 Louisiana Lafayette. The Ducks (41-5) completed their Pac-12 series sweep of Stanford on Monday with a 6-3 victory on The Farm and then hosted the Ragin’ Cajuns. Oregon defeated Louisiana convincingly in the first two games (8-0 / 10-2) before coming out on top in a 2-1 eight-inning nailbiter in the finale.
Michigan (730 points), Alabama (674 points) and Oklahoma (645 points) all shifted up one to complete the top-five. The Wolverines (45-6) took care of Big Ten business defeating Michigan State 4-3 and sweeping a league road series at Maryland in similar fashion as Oregon. They topped the Terrapins by eight runs in the first two games (8-0 / 10-2) and escaped with a 1-0 win in game three in College Park.
The Crimson Tide (38-11) went 3-1 turning back Troy 5-2 and taking two-of-three in SEC action against Tennessee (2-3 / 3-1 / 10-3), while the Sooners (42-7) posted a 4-1 week. OU trumped North Texas (6-3) to start the week and then went 3-1 in Big 12 road games. Following a 7-1 win at Oklahoma State, OU grabbed the series from Kansas (2-4 in 8 inn. / 13-0 / 7-4) after dropping game one.
The reason for the shift in the top five was LSU suffering its first three-game losing streak of the season. The sixth-ranked Tigers (41-8) fell from No. 3 due to a 0-3 week in SEC play in which they dropped the series finale to Texas A&M (2-5) and the first two to then-No. 15 Missouri (2-7 / 2-10).
UCLA (40-8) and Auburn (44-8) remained at No. 7 and No. 8, while Florida State and Louisiana-Lafayette flip-flopped the final two spots in the top-10.
The Tigers (35-10), on a 10-game winning streak after Sunday’s win over LSU, moved up four more spots to No. 11 and have made a push of nine spots in just two weeks. Two programs moved up three positions in No. 16 Arizona (37-12) and No. 19 James Madison (40-6). The Dukes are Division I’s hottest team having won a school-record 31 games, last dropping a contest on March 8.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Current 2015 records are shown and first-place votes are in parentheses.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Poll – April 28, 2015
Rank | Team | 2015 Record | Totals | Prev. Rank |
1 | Florida (29) | 48-4 | 797 | 1 |
2 | Oregon (3) | 41-5 | 771 | 2 |
3 | Michigan | 45-6 | 730 | 4 |
4 | Alabama | 38-11 | 674 | 5 |
5 | Oklahoma | 42-7 | 645 | 6 |
6 | LSU | 41-8 | 633 | 3 |
7 | UCLA | 40-8 | 607 | 7 |
8 | Auburn | 44-8 | 593 | 8 |
9 | Florida State | 40-12 | 518 | 10 |
10 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 34-8 | 466 | 9 |
11 | Missouri | 35-10 | 453 | 15 |
12 | Tennessee | 36-13 | 447 | 11 |
13 | Minnesota | 41-8 | 439 | 12 |
14 | Georgia | 39-13 | 409 | 14 |
15 | UCF | 44-6 | 390 | 13 |
16 | Arizona | 37-12 | 298 | 19 |
17 | Baylor | 34-12 | 288 | 16 |
18 | California | 34-13 | 256 | 20 |
19 | James Madison | 40-6 | 210 | 22 |
20 | Washington | 37-13 | 204 | 18 |
21 | Kentucky | 29-21 | 141 | 17 |
22 | South Alabama | 33-9 | 89 | 21 |
23 | Notre Dame | 39-12 | 82 | 24 |
24 | Arizona State | 30-18 | 66 | 23 |
25 | Texas A&M | 34-17 | 51 | 25 |
New to Poll: None
Dropped out: None
Others Receiving Votes: North Dakota State (44), Utah (36), Kansas (24), USC Upstate (21), CSUN (6), South Carolina
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