LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Make it five consecutive weeks at No. 1 for Florida (28-2) in the USA Today/NFCA Division I softball poll as the Gators received 23 of 32 possible first-place votes to retain the top spot.

UF utilized a mid-week doubleheader sweep of Mercer (W 8-0 in 5 inn., W 1-0) and a Southeastern Conference series victory on the road at LSU (W 7-6 in 8 inn., L 2-3, W 10-2 in 5 inn.) to maintain its position in the March 18th listing and lead second-rated UCLA (26-1) by 22 total points. The Bruins secured the opening two games of its high-profile series against then-No. 6 Arizona (W 1-0, W 8-4), and later finished off the series sweep with a 2-0 win on Monday, to climb a single spot to a season-best rating at No. 2.

After five straight victories at the Pepsi Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawai’i, a 3-0 loss to unranked James Madison during the event’s title game proved enough to drop Oregon (23-3) from second to third in the latest rankings.

The remainder of the top five stayed the same with Tennessee (24-3) and Washington (20-5) holding down spots four and five, respectively. The Lady Vols blew past Western Carolina (W 15-0 in 5 inn.) and took two of three match-ups at Arkansas (W 9-2, L 4-5, W 8-0 in 6 inn.), while the Huskies split a pair of league contests against Utah (W 5-2, L 2-3) before having their series finale against the Utes cancelled by weather.

An unbeaten weekend at the Class Act Federal Credit Union Classic in Louisville, Ky., helped Michigan (19-6) jump from eighth to No. 6 this week. The pair of close defeats at UCLA didn’t cost Arizona (23-6) much in the way of poll position as the Wildcats moved down just a single slot to seventh.

No. 8 Kentucky (21-4), No. 9 Alabama (24-4) and No. 10 Florida State (25-4) each rose one spot in rounding out the latest top 10. The Wildcats topped Marshall (W 6-2) and rebounded from an opening defeat to secure their series at then-No. 16 Missouri (L 2-7, W 3-2, W 8-7 in 8 inn.). The Crimson Tide routed Mississippi Valley State (W 12-0 in 5 inn.) and rolled to a league-leading 6-0 in the SEC via a three-game sweep at Ole Miss (W 10-2, W 7-0, W 9-2). Meanwhile, the Seminoles split a pair of match-ups against Virginia Tech (W 12-0 in 5 inn., L 4-5), won at Florida Gulf Coast (W 5-0) and swept defending Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champion N.C. State (W 4-1, W 4-2, W 5-2) during a hard-fought series in Tallahassee, Fla.

There were no exits from this week’s poll as James Madison, LSU, USF, Hofstra, USC Upstate, Lipscomb, Arkansas, DePaul, Virginia Tech and Long Beach State remain among the list of “others receiving votes.”

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference.

To view the complete USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, please click this LINK.