Florida Regains No. 1 Ranking in USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Florida became the third team in three weeks to sit atop the rankings as the Gators (44-4) regained their No. 1 ranking in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the Association.

Florida, which picked up 18 first place votes and 786 total points, completed a 4-0 week and ran its winning streak to 11 games. After holding the No. 1 ranking for the first six weeks of the season, they are the third team to hold the top spot more than one time this season. The Gators completed a SEC series sweep of Kentucky (2-0) on Monday and took the first two games on the road in a weather-shortened series at then-No. 11 Georgia (8-3 / 4-3). Their week also included a 7-0 shutout against in-state USF.

Last week’s top team, Oregon, fell back to No. 2 after winning its only two games of the week at Stanford. The Ducks (37-5) earned the other 14 first-place votes and 774 points after taking the first two Pac-12 contests from the Cardinal (5-4 / 12-8) over the weekend.

LSU (737) and Michigan (703) held strong at No. 3 and No. 4. The Tigers (41-5) earned a mid-week 13-2 win at McNeese State and opened their SEC series with two triumphs over then-No. 24 Texas A&M (6-1 / 6-3). The Wolverines (41-6) completed a 4-0 week in Big Ten play with a mid-week road win over in-state rival Michigan State (10-0) and sweeping all three contests at home against Indiana (11-2 / 3-0 / 7-1).

Thanks to a big SEC series win at foe Auburn, Alabama (651) returned to No. 5 following a 4-1 week. The Tide (35-10) went into enemy territory and held the potent Tigers’ offense to just three runs in the first two games to earn 6-0 and 13-3 wins. Alabama also topped UAB (14-1) and North Carolina State (2-0) earlier in the week at home.

Oklahoma (635) fell back a spot to No. 6 as it took two-of-three from Baylor (0-8 / 5-2 / 11-3) in a Big 12 series, while UCLA (593) swept its Pac-12 series from California (8-0 / 5-3 / 8-5) to slide up to No. 7. Auburn (577), which salvaged a win (13-12 in 8 inn.) in the series finale against Alabama, dropped to No. 8.

No. 9 Louisiana-Lafayette (539) and No. 10 Florida State (507) stayed put in their positions. The Ragin’ Cajuns erupted for 44 runs in two games in a Sun Belt road series at Appalachian State (21-5 / 23-6), while the Seminoles (37-11) allowed just one run as it cruised to an ACC series sweep of Virginia (9-1 / 8-0 / 8-0).

Making the biggest jump was No. 15 Missouri, catapulting five spots from No. 20, after dominating week in which the Tigers (31-10) outscored their opponents, 53-6, on the road. Mizzou opened with two triumphs at Western Illinois (15-4 / 8-1) and closed out with a SEC series sweep at Arkansas. The Tigers held the Razorbacks to just one run as they picked up three run-rule victories (9-0 / 11-1 / 10-0) in Fayetteville.

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Current 2015 records are shown and first-place votes are in parentheses.

USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Poll – April 21, 2015

Rank

Team

2015 Record

Totals

Prev. Rank

Florida (18)

44-4

786

Oregon (14)

37-5

774

LSU

41-5

737

Michigan

41-6

703

Alabama

35-10

651

Oklahoma

38-6

635

UCLA

38-8

593

Auburn

41-8

577

Louisiana-Lafayette

34-5

539

Florida State

37-11

507

Tennessee

35-11

469

Minnesota

37-7

453

UCF

43-6

399

Georgia

35-13

363

Missouri

31-10

319

Baylor

31-11

299

Kentucky

28-16

271

Washington

36-11

255

Arizona

34-12

237

California

32-12

193

South Alabama

32-7

163

James Madison

37-6

138

Arizona State

29-16

130

Notre Dame

37-11

Texas A&M

33-14

New to Poll: None

Dropped out: None

Others Receiving Votes: Texas (10), North Dakota State (10), Kansas (7), South Carolina (7), Utah (6), USC Upstate (6), Cal State Northridge (5), Western Kentucky (5).

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