LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Oklahoma ran through its opposition last week and is No. 1 for the 49th time in the last 51 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Polls. The Sooners (27-1) collected three more first place votes and 794 points as it extended its lead over No. 2 LSU, which dropped its first game of the season on Sunday evening.
The top 10 nearly stayed the same with a slight change as Tennessee and Washington traded places at No. 7 and 8.
OU eased past Tarleton State and Texas Tech last week, outscoring them by 56 runs (60-4), reaching double figures in four of five contests. The Sooners’ sweep of the Red Raiders gave head coach Patty Gasso her 400th career conference win, the first coach in any Big 12 sport to reach that milestone.
The second-ranked Tigers (24-1) earned six first-place votes (771) after they went 2-1 last week. LSU opened the week with a big win over No. 3 Texas at home, before splitting the first two SEC tilts with Ole Miss. The Tigers opened with a 3-0 shutout before the Rebels (19-8) rallied late to take game two 5-2 and end LSU’s 24-game undefeated start.
No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Tennessee, along with Oklahoma, were the only unblemished top 10 teams. The Cowgirls (24-3) blanked Central Arkansas 8-0 before handing UCF three defeats in Big 12 action. The Lady Vols (22-4) extended their win streak to 14 games after an 11-4 win over Howard and a big three-game SEC sweep of then-No. 11 Missouri.
No. 3 Texas rebounded from its defeat to LSU by running past BYU in Big 12 play, while No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Duke and No. 8 Washington all came out on top in their top-25 conference series, the latter two on the road.
No. 9 Stanford and No. 10 Florida went 4-1 last week. The Cardinal (22-5) swept then-No. 17 Cal in Berkeley after a mid-week split versus Sacramento State. After dropping the finale at Alabama, the Gators (25-4) thumped Stetson, Mercer and Indiana (twice) at home in non-conference action.
No. 11 Clemson and No. 14 UCLA were the final two top 25 programs to make it out of last week unscathed. The Tigers (21-6) blanked Gardner-Webb and swept North Carolina in their ACC series with the Tar Heels, while the Bruins (17-6) have won nine straight following three non-conference wins at home against Rutgers and Loyola Marymount (twice).
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 March 17. 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
3/19/24 (Week 6)
|
Rank |
School (First Place Votes) |
Points |
Record |
Previous Ranking |
|
1 |
Oklahoma (26) |
794 |
27-1 |
1 |
|
2 |
LSU (6) |
771 |
24-1 |
2 |
|
3 |
Texas |
727 |
24-3 |
3 |
|
4 |
Oklahoma State |
692 |
24-3 |
4 |
|
5 |
Georgia |
666 |
23-4 |
5 |
|
6 |
Duke |
637 |
22-2 |
6 |
|
7 |
Tennessee |
610 |
22-4 |
8 |
|
8 |
Washington |
584 |
20-4 |
7 |
|
9 |
Stanford |
545 |
22-5 |
9 |
|
10 |
Florida |
512 |
25-4 |
10 |
|
11 |
Clemson |
461 |
21-6 |
12 |
|
12 |
Texas A&M |
432 |
25-3 |
13 |
|
13 |
Alabama |
392 |
22-5 |
14 |
|
14 |
UCLA |
371 |
17-6 |
15 |
|
15 |
Missouri |
369 |
22-6 |
11 |
|
16 |
Virginia Tech |
306 |
21-4-1 |
18 |
|
17 |
Florida State |
280 |
18-8 |
16 |
|
18 |
Arkansas |
245 |
22-6 |
20 |
|
19 |
California |
193 |
21-7 |
17 |
|
20 |
Mississippi State |
190 |
21-6 |
21 |
|
21 |
Arizona |
130 |
20-7-1 |
22 |
|
22 |
Baylor |
101 |
16-8 |
19 |
|
23 |
South Carolina |
78 |
21-7 |
23 |
|
24 |
Boston University |
66 |
20-3 |
24 |
|
25 |
Auburn |
59 |
14-6-1 |
25 |
New to Poll: N/A
Dropped Out: N/A
Receiving Votes: Oregon (55), Louisiana (43), Kansas (40), Kentucky (25), Texas State (19), Miami (6), Grand Canyon (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 March 17. Poll is released on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. ET during the regular season.
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