USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll
Tennessee had its first setback of the 2007 season, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Lady Vols from reclaiming the No. 1 position in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll for the fifth straight week, the association announced Wednesday.
Despite having its undefeated mark halted, the Lady Vols moved to 24-1 on the season as they swept Appalachian State and claimed a series victory over Florida.
The Lady Vols received 28 No. 1 nods this week after sweeping all of the first-place nods the past two weeks. Arizona State claimed two first-place places to move back into the second position, while UT’s fellow SEC foe, Alabama, claimed one vote while staying a No. 4 with a 24-0 mark, the only undefeated record remaining in Division I softball.
Texas A&M sits between the Sun Devils and Crimson Tide after the Aggies swept Houston over the weekend to move to 21-2 on the year. Arizona fell three places after a series loss to Baylor, ranked No. 14 this week, dropped the defending national champion to 17-5 on the year.
Oklahoma remained at No. 6 despite having its school-record 23-game win streak snapped by Tulsa, and Northwestern stayed at No. 7 following a week away from action. The remainder of the top 10 remained unchanged as well, as Texas, Michigan and LSU held steady at Nos. 8-10, respectively.
UCLA moved up one place to No. 11 following a 6-0 week that moved the Bruins to 21-6 overall. The Bruins switched places with Pac-10 foe Washington, who dropped one place to 12th with an 18-4 mark. Stanford completed the trio of conference opponents, staying at No. 13 with a 21-5 record.
Baylor’s two-spot jump this week dropped Oregon State one place to 15th. The Beavers sit just ahead of in-state rival Oregon, who advanced one place with a 24-3 mark on the campaign.
Louisiana-Lafayette slipped two places to 17th, while Georgia used wins over Southern Illinois and Florida State to advance back into the top 20 at No. 18, a three-spot leap from last week. SIU, who held the No. 18 spot last week, dropped two places to 20th while the Seminoles advanced one place to No. 24 with a 6-1 week that included a victory over the Salukis.
Despite dropping its three-game SEC opener with Tennessee, Florida stayed at No. 19. Illinois State moved up one place to 21st this week, moving it immediately behind Missouri Valley Conference foe SIU.
Georgia Tech dropped two places to No. 22, while Hawaii moved back into the rankings at 23rd following a 7-0 week that pushed the Rainbow Wahine to 23-5 overall. California held on in the rankings at No. 25 after falling two places this week.
