LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fresh off its first NCAA Division II national title, University of Texas at Tyler is the unanimous No. 1 team in the final 2024 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
In just their third season of Division II membership, the Patriots (58-8) enjoyed an unbeaten postseason run (10-0), sweeping both the South Central Regional 2 and the Super Regionals. UT Tyler entered the Division II World Series as the No. 2 overall seed and knocked off Augustana, Western Washington and Lenoir-Rhyne for its first appearance in the Championship Series. They met Western Washington again and defeated the Vikings 3-0 and 10-1. Over the last three years, the Patriots, under the direction of Mike Reed, have reached the NCAA Championship each season, reaching the semifinals in 2022 and 2023.
First-time national championship participants and national runner-up Western Washington comes in at No. 2. After opening the tournament with a victory over Wilmington, the Vikings dropped their next game to UT Tyler. They went on to win three elimination games, including two over Indianapolis in the semifinals. WWU (52-12) smashed its program’s win record as no prior team had reached the 40-victory mark.
National semifinalists UIndy and Lenoir-Rhyne finished the year at No. 3 and No. 4. The Greyhounds (60-7) registered a 7-3 postseason mark and became the first team in program history to win 60 games. The Bears (52-18) came out of the Southeast Region as the No. 3 seed to earn their first trip to the national championship. As the tournament’s No. 8 seed, they went 2-2 against the top four seeds at the tournament and finished with a 7-4 postseason record.
No. 5 Wilmington, No. 6 Auburn Montgomery, No. 7 Charleston and No. 8 Augustana all represented their regions at the DII World Series. Out of the East, the Wildcats (46-16) made their second straight national championship appearance and picked up their first victory in an elimination game over Augustana. They also set a program win mark for the second consecutive season.
The sixth-ranked WarHawks (47-14) were the No. 1 overall seed and went 1-2 at the national championship, earning an elimination win over Charleston. It was the program’s second championship appearance and first under head coach Scottie Wilkes. AUM posted a 7-3 record during the postseason, including a 6-1 mark in regionals and super regionals.
No. 7 Charleston and No. 8 Augustana made it out of their Atlantic and Central Regions as the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. The Golden Eagles (51-8), who set a program record for wins, made their first-ever national championship appearance. UC went 4-1 in the Atlantic 2 Regional and went the distance against Kutztown in super regionals. The Vikings (50-15) rattled off five straight wins on the road to secure a national championship berth, knocking off No. 1 seed Pittsburg State twice in regionals and No. 2 Rogers State in super regionals.
Rounding out the top 10 is No. 9 West Texas A&M and No. 10 North Georgia, who combined to be No. 1 in 13 of the first 14 polls. The Lady Buffs (50-8) were a regional finalist that was upset by Oklahoma Christian, while the NightHawks (52-13) were defeated by Lenoir-Rhyne in a super regional that went the distance.
Along with Augustana, No. 17 Oklahoma Christian, No. 20 Cal State Dominguez Hills and No. 24 Adelphi moved into the final polls’ rankings.
The 2024 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by the NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll Committee. The committee consists of 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the NCAA’s eight regions. Results are through the final game of the NCAA Championship (May 25).
2024 NFCA Division II Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
5/28/24 (Final)
|
Rank |
School |
Points |
Record |
Previous Ranking |
|
1 |
UT Tyler |
400 |
58-8 |
3 |
|
2 |
Western Washington |
384 |
52-12 |
13 |
|
3 |
Indianapolis |
368 |
60-7 |
2 |
|
4 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
349 |
52-18 |
22 |
|
5 |
Wilmington |
330 |
46-16 |
17 |
|
6 |
AUM |
311 |
47-14 |
15 |
|
7 |
Charleston |
303 |
51-8 |
9 |
|
8 |
Augustana |
299 |
50-15 |
RV |
|
9 |
West Texas A&M |
261 |
50-8 |
1 |
|
10 |
North Georgia |
250 |
52-13 |
8 |
|
11 |
Mississippi College |
245 |
48-9 |
4 |
|
12 |
Rogers State |
225 |
46-12 |
10 |
|
13 |
Tampa |
173 |
43-11 |
6 |
|
14 |
Pittsburg State |
153 |
53-8 |
5 |
|
15 |
Francis Marion |
152 |
47-13 |
19 |
|
16 |
Trevecca Nazarene |
145 |
47-15 |
21 |
|
17 |
Oklahoma Christian |
140 |
35-23 |
NR |
|
18 |
East Stroudsburg |
131 |
46-17 |
16 |
|
19 |
Wingate |
119 |
49-11 |
7 |
|
20 |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
112 |
39-21 |
NR |
|
21 |
Northwest Nazarene |
95 |
41-12 |
14 |
|
22 |
Colorado Mesa |
74 |
46-11 |
25 |
|
23 |
Colorado Christian |
57 |
50-10 |
11 |
|
24 |
Adelphi |
47 |
34-21 |
RV |
|
25 |
Nova Southeastern |
32 |
39-14 |
24 |
New to Poll: No. 8 Augustana, No. 17 Oklahoma Christian, No. 20 Cal State Dominguez Hills, No. 24 Adelphi
Dropped Out: No. 12 Central Oklahoma, No. 18 Concordia, No. 20 Angelo State, No. 23 Rollins
Receiving Votes: Cal State San Marcos (16), Kutztown (13), Southern Nazarene (10), Oklahoma Baptist (3), Grand Valley State (2), Angelo State (1).
The 2024 NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by the NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll Committee. The committee consists of 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the NCAA’s eight regions. Records reflect games played through the 2024 season.
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