USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25
April 23, 1997
Rankings
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona (16) | 42-4 | 616 | 2 |
| 2 | Fresno State (8) | 42-7 | 604 | 1 |
| 3 | South Carolina (1) | 51-3 | 578 | 3 |
| 4 | UCLA | 34-10 | 541 | 4 |
| 5 | Iowa | 36-5 | 531 | 5 |
| 6 | Washington | 31-10 | 497 | 6 |
| 7 | Missouri | 41-11 | 452 | 9 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 46-14 | 445 | 7 |
| 9 | Michigan State | 43-11 | 416 | 8 |
| 10 | Michigan | 40-13-1 | 377 | 12 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 34-13 | 349 | 10 |
| 12 | Arizona State | 30-14 | 318 | 11 |
| 13 | Long Beach State | 35-16-1 | 313 | 13 |
| 14 | South Florida | 43-11 | 307 | 15 |
| 15 | Colorado State | 39-10 | 291 | 16 |
| 16 | Minnesota | 31-12 | 202 | 14 |
| 17 | Florida State | 40-15-1 | 198 | 18 |
| 18 | Utah | 34-11 | 185 | 20 |
| 19 | Oklahoma State | 31-17 | 180 | 17 |
| 20 | Louisiana-Monroe | 40-7 | 164 | 19 |
| 21 | Louisiana Tech | 30-14 | 118 | 21 |
| 22 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 41-15 | 104 | 25 |
| 23 | Kansas | 33-16 | 64 | 24 |
| 24 | California | 27-19 | 61 | 22 |
| 25 | Cal State Northridge | 27-17-2 | 53 | 23 |
Others receiving votes:
New Mexico State (34), Central Michigan (27), Louisiana State (25), Connecticut (15), Tennessee (15), Pacific (10), Purdue (7), Nicholls State (5), Hawaii (4), Hofstra (4), Southern Illinois (4), Illinois-Chicago (3), Boston College (2), DePaul (2), San Diego State (2), East Carolina (1), Oregon State (1).
Dropped out:
None.