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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following an opening weekend during which Mother Nature did not cooperate, UCLA remained atop and Duke shot up the ranks of this week’s 2021 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Bruins (1-0) captured 31 first-place votes and 799 points, while the Blue Devils jolted to No. 18 after a 4-0 start to their 2021 campaign.

UCLA topped then-RV Fresno State, 7-0, to open its season, but had its final two contests canceled due to COVID-related protocols within the Cal Poly program. Fresh off its first-ever NFCA top-25 ranking in the preseason poll (25th), Duke made the most of its trip to Baton Rouge with four wins, including an 8-4 triumph over Tiger Classic host and then-No. 5 LSU. The Blue Devils also defeated Central Arkansas twice and McNeese State.

Washington remained at No. 2 with a perfect 5-0 showing at UNLV’s Rebel Kickoff. The Huskies (5-0) picked up two wins each over Southern Utah (8-0, 19-13) and Dixie State (6-5, 7-0) and another against the host Rebels (8-2). 

Oklahoma’s offense showed no signs of a 300-plus day layoff as it pushed across 70 runs over a four-game stretch at the Miner Invitational hosted by UTEP. Moving into the No. 3 spot this week, the Sooners (4-0) launched an NCAA single-game record 13 home runs in a 29-0 victory over host UTEP. Following 9-0 and 11-0 wins over Abilene Christian, OU hit eight more long balls in a 21-2 triumph over the Miners. For the weekend, the Sooners blasted 24 home runs and registered 69 hits.

A season-opening tournament hosted by No. 7 Texas and featuring No. 5 Alabama and No. 4 Arizona was canceled due to wintery conditions in the Lone Star state. No. 9 Louisiana joined the Longhorns and Wildcats as top-10 programs who were unable to start their 2021 campaigns.

The Crimson Tide rose to the No. 5 spot after they found some last-minute opponents. Alabama’s arms tossed four shutouts and surrendered a total of six hits over 24 innings in victories over Alabama State (10-0), RV Notre Dame (10-0) and Louisville (5-0, 4-0).

No. 6 Florida started the season with road wins against in-state foe USF (6-3, 15-0). LSU dipped to No. 8 as it posted a 2-1 mark with victories over McNeese (8-0) and Kansas (5-3). No. 10 Oregon captured five wins at the GCU Kickoff Classic. The Ducks (5-0) earned two wins each over Weber State (9-0, 8-0) and Montana (8-0, 9-1) and one over the host Lopes (5-3).

No teams moved in or out of the poll, but there was some shuffling amongst teams 12 through 25.

The 2021 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Records reflect games played through Feb. 14.

 

2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – February 16 (Week 1)

Rank

School

Points

Record

Last Week

1

UCLA (31)

799

1-0

1

2

Washington

749

5-0

2

3

Oklahoma (1)

732

4-0

4

4

Arizona

704

0-0

3

5

Alabama

639

4-0

8

6

Florida

620

2-0

7

7

Texas

602

0-0

6

8

LSU

559

2-1

5

9

Louisiana

539

0-0

9

10

Oregon

504

5-0

10

11

Oklahoma State

484

2-0

11

12

Kentucky

418

3-0

13

13

Florida State

408

3-1

12

14

Virginia Tech

351

3-0

15

15

Arizona State

336

4-0

16

16

Georgia

283

2-1

14

17

Michigan

261

0-0

17

18

Duke

223

4-0

25

19

South Carolina

221

0-0

19

20

Arkansas

212

0-1

18

21

Missouri

181

3-1

23

22

Mississippi State

174

2-0

20

23

Baylor

127

0-0

22

24

UCF

100

3-1

21

25

Minnesota

60

0-0

24

 

Receiving Votes: Utah (32) Tennessee (24), Stanford (22), Liberty (7), Northwestern (7), Oregon State (7), Texas Tech (7), Clemson (6), James Madison (1), Notre Dame (1).

The 2021 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. 14.

*Programs not competing in 2021 will not be eligible for ranking consideration.

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