LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With Oklahoma State climbing to No. 3, the Big 12 Conference has the top three programs in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll of the 2024 season. The Cowgirls (13-2) sit at No. 3 behind top-ranked Oklahoma and No. 2 Texas, while No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Georgia round out the new-look top five.
The Sooners (14-0) cruised to a 5-0 mark at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic and remained atop the rankings for the 46th of the last 48 polls. After 9-3 and 10-2 triumphs over No. 25 Mississippi State and Wisconsin, OU closed out by blanking RV San Diego State, Seattle and Loyola Marymount.
The second-ranked Longhorns (12-1) did suffer their first defeat of 2024 to then-No. 13 Stanford at home in eight innings, but picked up two wins each over RV Louisiana and Colorado State and a mid-week thumping of Houston Christian.
The Cowgirls’ (13-2) big jump was courtesy of a 7-0 showing last week, highlighted by shutout wins at then-No. 16 Florida and against then-No. 4 Washington. They also blanked Pitt and Loyola Chicago and topped Yale, Stetson and USF.
No. 4 LSU (13-0) stayed undefeated with five more wins at home, two each against RV Boise State and Houston and one versus Austin Peay. Fifth-ranked Georgia fell two spots after suffering its first loss of the season, a 5-4 defeat to then-RV Virginia Tech. The Bulldogs (12-1) rebounded with three wins, including a 7-5 triumph over the Hokies.
Washington, whose only loss came at the hands of Oklahoma State, went to No. 6 following a 6-1 week in the Sunshine State. The Huskies (12-2) popped off wins over Florida Gulf Coast, Stetson, USF, Pitt, Loyola Chicago and Yale.
Following 5-0 outings, both Duke and Clemson rose one spot apiece to No. 7 and No. 8, while Tennessee made the biggest fall dropping four position to No. 9. The Blue Devils (13-1) exploded offensively at home over the weekend, scoring 59 runs, including a program-record 22 runs against Michigan State (22-0). They also edged RV Boston University (4-2) and trumped Villanova twice (8-1, 11-6) and Elon (14-0).
Clemson (11-2) opened with a mid-week road win at Charlotte (8-5) before topping Ole Miss (9-1, 5-0), then-RV Miami (10-1) and UConn (3-2 8 inn.).
Alabama rounds out the top 10 putting in another undefeated week with six more victories, outscoring its opposition 54-5 with three run-rule shutouts.
Returning to the top 25 are No. 21 Baylor and No. 23 Virginia Tech. The Bears (8-3) had stellar showing at the Mary Nutter, knocking off three ranked opponents in then-No. 23 Oregon (3-2), then-No. 19 UCLA (5-3) and then-No 11 Missouri (5-4) along with Notre Dame (10-9) and UC Riverside (8-0). The Hokies (12-3-1) split at Georgia, while also earning wins over Elon (9-1), Radford (8-0, 13-1) and Dartmouth (6-0)
Dropping out the rankings were Utah (8-6) and Northwestern (7-4).
The 2024 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. Results are through Feb. 25. The poll is revealed each Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. ET during the regular season.
2024 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
2/27/24 (Week 3)
Rank |
School (First Place Votes) |
Points |
Record |
Previous Ranking |
1 |
Oklahoma (32) |
800 |
14-0 |
1 |
2 |
Texas |
743 |
12-1 |
2 |
3 |
Oklahoma State |
681 |
13-2 |
7 |
4 |
LSU |
675 |
13-0 |
6 |
5 |
Georgia |
671 |
12-1 |
3 |
6 |
Washington |
632 |
12-2 |
4 |
7 |
Duke |
591 |
13-1 |
8 |
8 |
Clemson |
545 |
11-2 |
9 |
9 |
Tennessee |
535 |
8-4 |
5 |
10 |
Alabama |
506 |
16-0 |
10 |
11 |
Stanford |
479 |
10-4 |
13 |
12 |
Florida State |
440 |
11-3 |
12 |
13 |
Florida |
405 |
15-2 |
14 |
14 |
Missouri |
350 |
13-2 |
11 |
15 |
Arkansas |
338 |
13-3 |
15 |
16 |
Kentucky |
316 |
11-2 |
16 |
17 |
Texas A&M |
252 |
14-1 |
18 |
18 |
UCLA |
240 |
7-5 |
19 |
19 |
Arizona |
231 |
16-1 |
22 |
20 |
California |
213 |
15-1 |
21 |
21 |
Baylor |
203 |
8-3 |
RV |
22 |
South Carolina |
185 |
13-2 |
17 |
23 |
Virginia Tech |
121 |
12-3-1 |
RV |
24 |
Mississippi State |
71 |
11-3 |
25 |
25 |
Oregon |
51 |
9-7 |
23 |
New to Poll: No. 21 Baylor, No. 23 Virginia Tech
Dropped Out: No. 20 Utah, No. 24 Northwestern
Receiving Votes: Boston University (30), Northwestern (27), Utah (26), San Diego State (24), Auburn (12), Texas State (3), Louisiana (2), Penn State (1), Wichita State (1).
The 2024 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. Records reflect games played through Feb. 25. Poll is released on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. ET during the regular season.
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