LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As undefeated Florida continues its roll through the first half of the season, the Gators (27-0) are unanimously No. 1 for the first time in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the Association.
With a 6-0 performance last week, the Gators wrapped up their California Spring Break trip 10-0, which included their second wins of the season over No. 2 Oregon (5-1) and No. 3 Michigan (7-4). They also topped Long Beach State (10-1), San Jose State (9-1), then-No. 13 Arizona (10-0) and Fresno State (4-1).
The Ducks (20-3) went 4-1 at the Judi Garman Classic with their only defeat coming at the hands of the No. 1 Gators. Oregon posted victories over Pacific (9-7), Fresno State (3-0), Iowa (2-1) and Long Beach State (12-3).
Michigan (22-3) remained at No. 3, but has some company as the only other undefeated program, LSU (25-0), moved up from No. 5 to tie the Wolverines in the rankings. After a 9-0 win over Cal State Fullerton, Michigan had its 19-game winning streak snapped at the Judi Garman Classic as it suffered a pair of losses to top-ranked Florida and then-No. 22 Arizona State (0-2 / 8 innings). Following those defeats, they rebounded with resounding triumphs over San Jose State (9-1), then-No. 9 Baylor (11-1) and San Diego State (10-2).
The Tigers opened up SEC play at home with a dominating three-game sweep over Arkansas, outscoring the Razorbacks, 23-1 and also shut out Northwestern State (10-0) in a mid-week non-conference affair.
Rounding out the top five is Alabama (18-4), which also rolled in its first SEC series, blanking Mississippi in a three-game set, 23-0.
Oklahoma (18-3), Louisiana-Lafayette (17-3) and Georgia (21-3) remained No. 6-8 in the rankings, while Tennessee (16-3) makes its first appearance and Florida State (18-5) returns to the top-10 after 5-0 weekends.
UAB and North Carolina State, tied for the 25th spot, enter the poll for the first time this season. The Blazers have won 12 straight and 15 of their last 16 games, while the Wolfpack are coming off a three-game ACC series-opening sweep of then-No. 23 Notre Dame.
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 – March 10, 2015
Rank
Team
2015 Record
Totals
Prev. Rank
1
Florida (29)
27-0
725
1
2
Oregon
20-3
684
2
t3
Michigan
22-3
645
3
t3
LSU
25-0
645
5
5
Alabama
18-4
621
4
6
Oklahoma
18-3
577
6
7
Louisiana-Lafayette
17-3
523
7
8
Georgia
21-3
502
8
9
Tennessee
16-3
487
11
10
Florida State
18-5
443
12
11
California
21-1
392
16
12
Auburn
25-2
386
14
13
UCLA
23-5
354
15
14
Kentucky
14-5
340
10
15
Baylor
14-5
336
9
16
Minnesota
18-4
302
17
17
Washington
25-4
249
19
18
Arizona
21-6
229
13
19
Texas A&M
19-5
228
20
20
UCF
18-4
188
18
21
Missouri
12-3
178
21
22
Arizona State
19-8
139
22
23
Kansas
21-2
84
25
24
South Alabama
16-5
78
24
t25
t25
UAB
North Carolina State
18-5
10-7
20
20
RV
RV
New to Poll: No. 25 UAB & North Carolina State
Dropped out: No. 23 Notre Dame (12-9)
Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame (16), Mississippi State (10), James Madison (7), Virginia Tech (4), North Carolina (4), South Carolina (3), Texas (3), Florida Atlantic (3).