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Florida Unanimous Choice at No. 1 in 2015 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll

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).