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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.

2024 NFCA DI Top 25 Committee

 

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