LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As the top four teams remained the same, the rest of the programs shuffled up and down this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. Florida gathered 30 first-place votes and is No. 1 for the second straight week and the ninth time overall in 2016.
In a matchup of top five teams, the Gators’ (41-3) pitching staff stymied one on the top offenses in the country as they swept a three-game home series from then-No. 5 Louisiana-Lafayette (5-1, 14-1, 3-0). UF’s staff held the Ragin’ Cajuns’ offense to 12 hits (one home run) and a .179 batting average. Earlier in the week, the Gators had their top-10 in-state battle with No. 8 Florida State suspended with one out in the ninth inning. The game will be resumed on May 4 prior to the contest in Tallahassee.
No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Auburn each picked up a first-place vote after 4-0 weeks, while No. 4 Alabama finished 3-1. The Wolverines (33-4) shutout in-state Big Ten rival Michigan State (3-0) and swept RV Ohio State (8-0, 5-1, 5-2). The Tigers (41-4) put up 62 runs on the road last week. After defeating UAB (8-1), Auburn put on an offensive clinic in Fayetteville, shutting out Arkansas 54-0 in a SEC sweep. Extending their school-record winning streak to 18 games, the Tigers scored 21 and 23 runs in games one and two, each a program record for runs scored in an SEC game.
The Crimson Tide (38-8) topped Southern Miss (7-1) and took two-of-three from No. 16 Texas A&M (8-3, 8-7, 1-14) in College Station.
Oregon and James Madison moved up to No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. The Ducks (32-6) were idle, while the Dukes (37-3) blanked CAA rival Drexel (3-0, 8-0, 8-0). The No. 6 ranking is the highest in program history. Louisiana slipped to No. 7 after being swept in Gainesville. Florida State remained at No. 8 sweeping an ACC road series at Boston College (10-2, 2-0, 9-6).
Oklahoma jumped up three spots and back into the top-10 at No. 9 and Washington dropped one position to No. 10. The Sooners (34-7) have won nine straight and 16-of-17 following four wins, including three tightly-contested affairs in Big 12 play versus RV Texas (9-8, 5-3, 5-3). The Huskies (28-9) were also involved in three tight conference games, taking two-of-three at home from RV California (3-2, 2-1, 3-5).
Making significant moves up were No. 11 Kentucky (14th), No. 12 Tennessee (15th) and No. 20 Fresno State (24th), while No. 13 Georgia (10th), No. 14 LSU (11th), No. 24 Minnesota (21st) and No. 25 Arizona State (22nd) all fell three spots.
For the third straight week, there were no departures from or new entries to the poll. The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Records reflect games played through April 17, 2016.
2016 USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll
Week 10 | April 12, 2016 (Results through 4/17)
Dropped Out: None
New to Poll: None
Receiving Votes: Cal State Fullerton (24), Nebraska (15), Utah (12), Texas (6), UCF (3), Ohio State (2).
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference.