3rd team in 3 weeks tops USA Today/NFCA poll (4/21)
3rd team in 3 weeks tops USA Today/NFCA poll (4/21)
Florida became the third team in three weeks to sit atop the rankings as the Gators (44-4) regained their No. 1 ranking in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the Association.
Florida, which picked up 18 first place votes and 786 total points, completed a 4-0 week and ran its winning streak to 11 games. After holding the No. 1 ranking for the first several weeks of the season, they are the third team to hold the top spot more than one time this season. The Gators completed a SEC series sweep of Kentucky (2-0) on Monday and took the first two games on the road in a weather-shortened series at then-No. 11 Georgia (8-3 / 4-3). Their week also included a 7-0 shutout against in-state USF.
Last week’s top team, Oregon, fell back to No. 2 after winning its only two games of the week at Stanford. The Ducks (37-5) earned the other 14 first-place votes and 774 points after taking the first two Pac-12 contests from the Cardinal (5-4 / 12-8) over the weekend.
LSU (737) and Michigan (703) held strong at No. 3 and No. 4. The Tigers (41-5) earned a mid-week 13-2 win at McNeese State and opened their SEC series with two triumphs over then-No. 24 Texas A&M (6-1 / 6-3). The Wolverines (41-6) completed a 4-0 week in Big Ten play with a mid-week road win over in-state rival Michigan State (10-0) and sweeping all three contests at home against Indiana (11-2 / 3-0 / 7-1).
Thanks to a big SEC series win at foe Auburn, Alabama (651) returned to No. 5 following a 4-1 week. The Tide (35-10) went into enemy territory and held the potent Tigers’ offense to just three runs in the first two games to earn 6-0 and 13-3 wins. Alabama also topped UAB (14-1) and North Carolina State (2-0) earlier in the week at home.
Oklahoma (635) fell back a spot to No. 6 as it took two-of-three from Baylor (0-8 / 5-2 / 11-3) in a Big 12 series, while UCLA (593) swept its Pac-12 series from California (8-0 / 5-3 / 8-5) to slide up to No. 7. Auburn (577), which salvaged a win (13-12 in 8 inn.) in the series finale against Alabama, dropped to No. 8.
No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette (539) and No. 10 Florida State (507) stayed put in their positions. The Ragin’ Cajuns erupted for 44 runs in two games in a Sun Belt road series at Appalachian State (21-5 / 23-6), while the Seminoles (37-11) allowed just one run as it cruised to an ACC series sweep of Virginia (9-1 / 8-0 / 8-0).
Making the biggest jump was No. 15 Missouri, which moved up five spots from No. 20, after dominating week in which the Tigers (31-10) outscored their opponents, 53-6, on the road. Mizzou opened with two triumphs at Western Illinois (15-4 / 8-1) and closed out with a SEC series sweep at Arkansas. The Tigers held the Razorbacks to just one run as they picked up three run-rule victories (9-0 / 11-1 / 10-0) in Fayetteville.
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 21, 2015
Rank | Team | 2015 Record | Totals | Prev. Rank |
1 | Florida (18) | 44-4 | 786 | 2 |
2 | Oregon (14) | 37-5 | 774 | 1 |
3 | LSU | 41-5 | 737 | 3 |
4 | Michigan | 41-6 | 703 | 4 |
5 | Alabama | 35-10 | 651 | 6 |
6 | Oklahoma | 38-6 | 635 | 5 |
7 | UCLA | 38-8 | 593 | 8 |
8 | Auburn | 41-8 | 577 | 7 |
9 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 34-5 | 539 | 9 |
10 | Florida State | 37-11 | 507 | 10 |
11 | Tennessee | 35-11 | 469 | 12 |
12 | Minnesota | 37-7 | 453 | 13 |
13 | UCF | 43-6 | 399 | 15 |
14 | Georgia | 35-13 | 363 | 11 |
15 | Missouri | 31-10 | 319 | 20 |
16 | Baylor | 31-11 | 299 | 17 |
17 | Kentucky | 28-16 | 271 | 14 |
18 | Washington | 36-11 | 255 | 19 |
19 | Arizona | 34-12 | 237 | 16 |
20 | California | 32-12 | 193 | 18 |
21 | South Alabama | 32-7 | 163 | 22 |
22 | James Madison | 37-6 | 138 | 23 |
23 | Arizona State | 29-16 | 130 | 21 |
24 | Notre Dame | 37-11 | 99 | 25 |
25 | Texas A&M | 33-14 | 54 | 24 |
New to Poll: None
Dropped out: None
Others Receiving Votes: Texas (10), North Dakota State (10), Kansas (7), South Carolina (7), Utah (6), USC Upstate (6), Cal State Northridge (5), Western Kentucky (5).