LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 1 Oklahoma pushed its win streak to 28 games, while Florida State and Stanford joined the top five in this week's 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll.
The Sooners (36-1) blanked Texas Tech for their sixth consecutive Big 12 sweep dating back to the final two series of 2022. OU steps out of league play this week, starting with a top-25 matchup against No. 13 LSU in Baton Rouge, before heading to Oxford, Ohio for three non-conference contests over the weekend.
UCLA leapfrogged Oklahoma State for the No. 2 spot. The Bruins (36-4) won four games last week, including a three-game Pac-12 sweep of Oregon State, while the Cowgirls (35-3) had their 14-game win streak snapped at new-No. 20 Wichita State. OSU bounced back from the mid-week defeat with a road sweep of Kansas in Big 12 action.
Powered by league sweeps, Florida State and Stanford rose to No. 4 and 5, respectively. In a battle of top-six squads, the Seminoles (32-7) traveled to Clemson, S.C. and took all three contests from the previously-ranked No. 4 Tigers (37-4) in a key Atlantic Coast Conference matchup. The fifth-ranked Cardinal hosted then-No. 20 Arizona and topped the Wildcats (24-15) in Pac-12 play.
With the defeats, Clemson dipped to No. 6 followed by No. 7 Tennessee (30-5), which also dropped two spots following a pair of home losses to then-No. 21 Baylor. With the big road wins, the Bears improved to 30-9 and entered the top 20 at No. 18.
In other top-10 action, Texas (33-8-1) and Washington (29-8) picked up conference sweeps moving up to No. 8 and No 9 with Arkansas (28-11) slipping to No. 10 after dropping two-of-three at home to then-No. 14 Georgia. The Bulldogs (31-8) continued their climb up the rankings, improving two more spots to No. 12.
Coming off its 8-7 win over then-No. 2 Oklahoma State, Wichita State moved to No. 20 as its offense continued to shine. The Shockers (34-7) scored 48 runs last week, 40 of which came in a three-game American Athletic Conference sweep of Memphis.
Utah made a quick return to the poll after one week away. The Utes (24-8) took two-of-three from then-No. 24 Arizona State, bouncing the Sun Devils (21-13) from the top 25.
The 2023 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 April 9, 2023.
2023 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
April 11 (Week 9)
|
Rank |
School (First Place Votes) |
Points |
2023 Record |
Last Week’s Ranking |
|
1 |
Oklahoma (32) |
800 |
36-1 |
1 |
|
2 |
UCLA |
759 |
36-4 |
3 |
|
3 |
Oklahoma State |
732 |
35-3 |
2 |
|
4 |
Florida State |
704 |
32-7 |
6 |
|
5 |
Stanford |
660 |
31-6 |
7 |
|
6 |
Clemson |
621 |
37-4 |
4 |
|
7 |
Tennessee |
610 |
30-5 |
5 |
|
8 |
Texas |
569 |
33-8-1 |
9 |
|
9 |
Washington |
543 |
29-8 |
10 |
|
10 |
Arkansas |
474 |
28-11 |
8 |
|
11 |
Duke |
472 |
30-9 |
11 |
|
12 |
Georgia |
440 |
31-8 |
14 |
|
13 |
LSU |
428 |
33-7 |
12 |
|
14 |
Virginia Tech |
389 |
31-9 |
13 |
|
15 |
Florida |
321 |
28-10 |
15 |
|
16 |
Alabama |
311 |
28-12 |
16 |
|
17 |
Kentucky |
297 |
24-10-1 |
17 |
|
18 |
Baylor |
244 |
30-9 |
21 |
|
19 |
Oregon |
239 |
25-11 |
18 |
|
20 |
Wichita State |
195 |
34-7 |
22 |
|
21 |
Auburn |
177 |
29-12 |
19 |
|
22 |
Northwestern |
145 |
24-9 |
22 |
|
23 |
Texas A&M |
100 |
24-13 |
24 |
|
24 |
Arizona |
91 |
24-15 |
20 |
|
25 |
Utah |
34 |
24-8 |
RV |
New To Poll: No. 25 Utah
Dropped Out: No. 24 Arizona State
Receiving Votes: Louisiana (22), Arizona State (8), Boston University (5), California (4), Indiana (4), Boise State (1), Central Arkansas (1).
The 2023 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 April 9.
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