LOUISVILLE, Ky. — UCLA continues its firm hold on the top spot as the unanimous No. 1 program in this week’s 2019 USA Today / NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll.
The Bruins (27-1), who collected all 32 first-place votes and 800 points, extended their winning streak to 11 games with run-rule wins over Saint Mary’s (9-1) and CSUN (14-2) on Sunday in Northridge, Calif.
.@UCLASoftball is our unanimous No. 1 in this week's @USATODAY / NFCA DI Top 25 Coaches Poll #NFCAD1Poll https://t.co/Z5IpmWOd1A pic.twitter.com/fOALNRRTAW
— NFCA (@NFCAorg) March 26, 2019
There was little movement in the top 10 as the first eight spots remained the same with Texas and Louisiana, switching the No. 9 and 10 positions. Joining the poll this week at No. 24 is a streaking Virginia Tech squad, which has won 10 straight and 16 of their last 17 games. The Hokies (27-4) are ranked in the poll for the first time since March 19, 2013.
No. 2 and No. 3 Florida State went a combined 9-0 last week. The Sooners (29-2) are rolling, topping North Texas and sweeping its Big 12-opening series at then-No. 14 Texas Tech. OU has won 19 straight this season and extended its conference winning streak to 28 contests. The Seminoles (32-3) scored at least eight runs in all five wins last week, including a ACC sweep of North Carolina State.
The last remaining undefeated team, No. 4 Alabama, suffered its first defeat of the season on the road in College Station, Texas. The Crimson Tide (33-1) picked up back-to-back 10-run wins over Texas A&M before suffering a 4-3 walk-off defeat in the SEC-series finale.
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No. 5 Tennessee posted a 4-1 week, earning two non-conference shutouts at Liberty and at North Carolina before picking up an SEC-series win over then No. 14 Arkansas. No. 6 Florida defeated then-No. 20 Minnesota and took two from Mercer in non-conference action, while No. 7 Washington opened its Pac-12 series with 6-3 and 14-2 triumphs at Oregon.
No. 8 LSU had a big weekend sweeping No. 12 Georgia in SEC play. After a mid-week win over Lamar, the Tigers (27-6) plated 24 runs in their first sweep of the Bulldogs in Athens since 2001.
Texas leapfrogged Louisiana for the No. 9 spot following a 4-0 week. The Longhorns knocked off Lipscomb on the road before returning home for a Big 12 sweep of Iowa State. The Ragin’ Cajuns (26-4) suffered a mid-week defeat against McNeese State at home, but rebounded in a big way, trumping South Alabama on the road by a combined score of 35-9 in a Sun Belt sweep.
Dropping out of the poll for the first time since week one was then-No. 22 Indiana.
RANKINGS: Check out all poll rankings
The 2019 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. The records reflect games played through March 24, 2019.
Rank |
School |
Points |
Record |
Previous |
1 |
UCLA (32) |
800 |
27-1 |
1 |
2 |
Oklahoma |
761 |
29-2 |
2 |
3 |
Florida State |
732 |
32-3 |
3 |
4 |
Alabama |
701 |
33-1 |
4 |
5 |
Tennessee |
669 |
26-5 |
5 |
6 |
Florida |
631 |
27-6 |
6 |
7 |
Washington |
597 |
24-6 |
7 |
8 |
LSU |
589 |
28-6 |
8 |
9 |
Texas |
533 |
29-6 |
10 |
10 |
Louisiana |
503 |
26-4 |
9 |
11 |
Arizona |
502 |
24-7 |
11 |
12 |
Georgia |
373 |
25-9 |
12 |
13 |
Arkansas |
349 |
22-9 |
15 |
14 |
Auburn |
340 |
28-5 |
17 |
15 |
Texas Tech |
317 |
27-5 |
14 |
16 |
South Carolina |
315 |
23-8 |
16 |
17 |
Arizona State |
297 |
25-8 |
18 |
18 |
Kentucky |
269 |
21-10 |
13 |
19 |
Minnesota |
224 |
22-9 |
20 |
20 |
James Madison |
199 |
19-6 |
19 |
21 |
Oklahoma State |
129 |
23-9 |
21 |
22 |
Ole Miss |
115 |
22-8 |
24 |
23 |
Michigan |
102 |
19-10 |
25 |
24 |
Virginia Tech |
81 |
27-4 |
RV |
25 |
Wisconsin |
43 |
22-5 |
23 |