LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cal State Fullerton breaks through for the first time since 2008 and the top six held steady in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. Florida earned 31 of 32 first-place votes and 799 points to claim No. 1 for the 10th time this season.

Returning to the poll for the first time since Feb. 19, 2008, the Titans (38-10) have won 13 straight and 27 of their last 30, which include victories over Oklahoma and Fresno State, while their three losses came at the hands of nationally-ranked Florida State, Alabama and UCLA, the latter two by one run. Cal State Fullerton is the first new team to enter the top-25 since Week 7.

The Gators (45-3) extended their winning streak to 11 games as they grabbed four home wins against new-No. 22 USF and a sweep of Mississippi State (16-0, 6-3, 3-1 in 10).

Michigan, who earned the other first-place vote and 767 points, also went 4-0 at home. In Big Ten play, the Wolverines (37-4) topped Michigan State in a mid-week contest and swept Maryland over the weekend. Michigan outscored its foes, 41-1 in four run-rule victories.

No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 each dropped a game to nationally-ranked opponents. The Tigers (45-5) split a mid-week top-10 twin bill with new-No. 7 Florida State, winning the opener 9-6. They went on to sweep then-No. 13 Georgia (4-3, 13-2, 2-1), rallying late in games one and three, including a walk-off Kasey Cooper three-run homer in the opener.

The Crimson Tide (41-9) edged South Alabama 4-2 and took two-of-three at home from No. 11 Kentucky. Alabama was nipped 3-2 in the opener and rebounded with 7-1 and 3-0 triumphs.

No. 5 Oregon returned from a 11-day break and showed no signs of rust with a three-game Pac-12 road sweep of then-No. 25 Arizona State. The Ducks (35-6) opened with a 10-4 win and then closed out the series with a pair of close victories (5-4, 7-4).  No. 6 James Madison reached the 40-win plateau after a three-game sweep of CAA opponent Delaware (8-0, 6-5, 11-2).

Florida State (38-5) moved up a spot to No. 7 after a 4-1 week which included a 4-3 win at No. 3 Auburn and a three-game ACC sweep of Virginia Tech (2-0, 3-1, 13-1).

Louisiana-Lafayette (35-6) fell to No. 8 after it swept Appalachian State at home (13-4, 14-2, 14-0). No. 9 Oklahoma extended its winning streak to 13 games with road wins at Arkansas (3-1) and then-No. 12 Tennessee (9-0). Allowing just one run on the week and zero in Knoxville, the Sooners (38-7) capped off their Rocky Top trip with 9-0 and 2-0 triumphs against Radford and Lipscomb. No. 10 Washington went 2-1 at Oregon State (3-2 in 10, 2-3, 7-2).

As Cal State Fullerton joined the poll, Arizona State dropped out for the first time since the 2006 preseason poll.

The 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 April 24, 2016.

 

2016 USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll
Week 11 | April 26, 2016 (Results through 4/24)

Rank Team Totals 2016 Record Last Poll 1 Florida (31) 799 45-3 1 2 Michigan (1) 767 37-4 2 3 Auburn 733 45-5 3 4 Alabama 686 41-9 4 5 Oregon 668 35-6 5 6 James Madison 631 40-3 6 7 Florida State 605 38-5 8 8 Louisiana-Lafayette 589 35-6 7 9 Oklahoma 555 38-7 9 10 Washington 495 30-10 10 11 Kentucky 473 39-11 11 12 LSU 424 36-13 14 13 Tennessee 419 35-12 12 14 Georgia 377 37-13 13 15 UCLA 357 29-13-1 15 16 Missouri 303 33-12 19 17 Arizona 285 32-13 17 18 Texas A&M 258 33-13 16 19 Notre Dame 215 35-7 18 20 Fresno State 181 34-9-1 20 21 Baylor 172 39-12 21 22 USF 118 42-11 23 23 Florida Atlantic 117 41-7 22 24 Minnesota 85 32-12 24 25 Cal State Fullerton 30 38-10 RV

Dropped Out: Arizona State

New to Poll: Cal State Fullerton

Receiving Votes: Arizona State (19), Utah (15), Texas (8), Nebraska (4), Ohio State (1), Oregon State (1).

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference.