LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Oklahoma continues atop, while Virginia Tech climbed to fourth in this week’s 2022 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners (32-0) posted three more victories in non-conference action and the Hokies (27-3) improved on their program’s highest ranking after shutouts in the first two matchup of a three-game series at then-No. 22 UCF.
OU knocked off Wichita State, 10-1, before topping UAB 11-1 and 2-0 at home last week. Running their undefeated start to 32 games, the Sooners are now one win shy of last season’s 33-0 start.
No. 2 Florida State and No. 3 UCLA each swept through league play. Along with their sweep of Virginia, the Seminoles (35-2) added two non-conference wins over in-state foes North Florida and Jacksonville. The Bruins (31-3) went on the road to Eugene and edged then-No. 12 Oregon in three closely-contested matchups.
Fourth-ranked Virginia Tech blanked the Knights (29-10) behind a Keely Rochard no-hitter and an Emma Lemley one-hit shutout. The duo is responsible for eight of the Hokies’ nine shutouts in 2022.
Alabama slipped one spot to No. 5 following a 2-1 week. The Crimson Tide (30-5) split with No. 15 Georgia at home in the first two games of Southeastern Conference play and also knocked off Alabama State in mid-week action.
The rest of the top 10 remained the same. No. 6 Oklahoma State (28-6) ran its win streak to 11 with a triumph over Tulsa and a three-game Big 12 sweep at Baylor. No. 7 Florida knocked off UCF and took two-of-three on the road at Auburn in SEC play.
No. 8 Kentucky went on the road in SEC action and swept then-No. 20 LSU, rebounding from a mid-week home loss to RV Ohio State. No. 9 Northwestern (24-5) and No. 10 Arkansas both suffered league losses, but came home with series victories against then-No. 22 Michigan and Ole Miss, respectively. The Razorbacks (24-7) also topped LSU to close out a SEC series win over the Tigers on March 28.
Outside the top 10, Texas made its way back into the top 20 at No. 19. The Longhorns (29-10-1) swept Iowa State in Big 12 action after dropping an extra-inning affair to RV Louisiana in a mid-week matchup.
The 2022 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 3.
2022 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
April 5 (Week 8)
|
Rank |
School (First Place Votes) |
Points |
2022 Record |
Prev. Ranking |
|
1 |
Oklahoma (32) |
800 |
32-0 |
1 |
|
2 |
Florida State |
764 |
35-2 |
2 |
|
3 |
UCLA |
736 |
31-3 |
3 |
|
4 |
Virginia Tech |
691 |
27-3 |
5 |
|
5 |
Alabama |
682 |
30-5 |
4 |
|
6 |
Oklahoma State |
639 |
28-6 |
6 |
|
7 |
Florida |
588 |
30-6 |
7 |
|
8 |
Kentucky |
559 |
25-8 |
8 |
|
9 |
Northwestern |
536 |
24-5 |
9 |
|
10 |
Arkansas |
509 |
24-7 |
10 |
|
11 |
Washington |
457 |
22-11 |
11 |
|
12 |
Tennessee |
421 |
25-10 |
13 |
|
13 |
Duke |
410 |
28-5 |
14 |
|
14 |
Oregon |
394 |
24-8 |
12 |
|
15 |
Georgia |
366 |
31-6 |
15 |
|
16 |
Arizona State |
339 |
25-5 |
16 |
|
17 |
Auburn |
304 |
29-6 |
17 |
|
18 |
Clemson |
269 |
25-10 |
18 |
|
19 |
Texas |
179 |
29-10-1 |
21 |
|
20 |
Arizona |
143 |
20-12 |
19 |
|
21 |
LSU |
133 |
22-15 |
20 |
|
22 |
Michigan |
124 |
20-11 |
23 |
|
23 |
UCF |
105 |
29-10 |
22 |
|
24 |
Missouri |
85 |
22-13 |
24 |
|
25 |
Notre Dame |
72 |
27-7 |
25 |
New to Poll: None.
Dropped Out: None
Receiving Votes: Louisiana (30), Oregon State (30), USC Upstate (11), Stanford (9), Ohio State (6), Wisconsin (4), Boise State (2), UNLV (1), USF (1), Western Kentucky (1).
The 2022 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 3, 2022.
