LOUISVILLE, Ky. – While Oklahoma enters its 27th consecutive week at No. 1, Arizona State and Duke cracked the top 10 for the first time this season in this week’s 2022 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners (48-1) swept No. 7 Oklahoma State in Bedlam and captured their 10th consecutive Big 12 regular-season title.
Virginia Tech (39-6) and Florida State held on to their No. 2 and 3 rankings. The Hokies won a mid-week contest against Liberty, while the Seminoles knocked off then-No. 10 Florida and swept North Carolina State on the road to finish out Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. The duo will be the No. 1 and 3 seeds at this week’s ACC Tournament hosted by Pitt.
Arkansas (41-9), which took two-of-three from Texas A&M on the road, moved up to No. 4 and will be the top overall seed at the Southeastern Conference Tournament (SEC) hosted by Florida.
No. 5 Alabama and No. 6 UCLA flip-flopped. The Crimson Tide (41-10) won their SEC series against No. 24 Missouri, while the Bruins (40-8) dropped their Pac-12 series at new-No. 8 Arizona State.
The Sun Devils (37-8) captured its first series over the Bruins since 2015 taking games one (6-1) and three (6-3). With three games left at No. 10 Washington, first-place ASU enters the final week of the regular season holding a two-game cushion over UCLA.
With Duke’s surge to No. 9, the ACC, along with the Pac-12 have three top-10 programs entering the final week before NCAA Regionals. The Blue Devils (40-7) won their final four games of the regular season, defeating Campbell and sweeping Pitt to earn their first 40-win season in program history, surpassing the 39-win mark set a season ago.
Louisiana made its way back into the rankings, coming in a No. 25. The Ragin’ Cajuns (41-11) swept ULM in their final Sun Belt series, extending their national-leading total of consecutive conference series won to 73 straight. The streak started in March 2013. It also marked their 23rd straight 40-win season.
Arizona dipped out of the poll this week after suffering a pair of losses against California. The Wildcats fall out of the NFCA rankings for the first time since the 2014 preseason poll.
The 2022 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 May 8.
2022 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
May 10 (Week 13)
|
Rank |
School (First Place Votes) |
Points |
2022 Record |
Prev. Ranking |
|
1 |
Oklahoma (32) |
800 |
48-1 |
1 |
|
2 |
Virginia Tech |
767 |
40-6 |
2 |
|
3 |
Florida State |
737 |
49-5 |
3 |
|
4 |
Arkansas |
693 |
41-9 |
5 |
|
5 |
Alabama |
658 |
41-10 |
6 |
|
6 |
UCLA |
636 |
40-8 |
4 |
|
7 |
Oklahoma State |
574 |
38-12 |
7 |
|
8 |
Arizona State |
563 |
37-8 |
12 |
|
9 |
Duke |
540 |
40-7 |
11 |
|
10 |
Washington |
502 |
34-13 |
9 |
|
11 |
Northwestern |
498 |
39-9 |
8 |
|
12 |
Florida |
450 |
41-15 |
10 |
|
13 |
Tennessee |
430 |
38-15 |
14 |
|
14 |
Kentucky |
395 |
35-16 |
13 |
|
15 |
Clemson |
301 |
37-14 |
18 |
|
16 |
Texas |
294 |
37-16-1 |
17 |
|
17 |
Auburn |
290 |
39-14 |
15 |
|
18 |
Georgia |
270 |
40-15 |
16 |
|
19 |
Notre Dame |
231 |
39-9 |
20 |
|
20 |
LSU |
217 |
34-20 |
19 |
|
21 |
UCF |
181 |
44-12 |
21 |
|
22 |
Oregon |
124 |
31-17 |
22 |
|
23 |
Michigan |
110 |
34-15 |
23 |
|
24 |
Missouri |
69 |
33-19 |
24 |
|
25 |
Louisiana |
38 |
41-11 |
RV |
New to Poll: No. 25 Louisiana
Dropped Out: No. 25 Arizona
Receiving Votes: Stanford (10), Arizona (8), Nebraska (7), Ole Miss (3), Georgia Tech (3), San Diego State (1).
The 2022 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 May 8, 2022.
The NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded coaches polls and All-America awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to awards, to in-person events and National Convention.
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