Minnesota ascends to program’s first No. 1 ranking in USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Minnesota’s record-breaking season added another milestone as it achieved the program’s first No. 1 national ranking in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Gophers (54-3), riding a NCAA DI-best 25-game winning streak, head into the postseason unseeded and will be the No. 2 seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional, hosted by 16th-seed Alabama.
Minnesota received 18-first place votes and a total of 767 points nudging out previous No. 1 Florida by nine points. The Gophers, who are tops in DI with 54 wins and a .947 winning percentage, ran undefeated through the Big Ten Tournament. Highlighted by a Sara Groenewegen no-hitter in the quarterfinals against Northwestern, Minnesota defeated the Wildcats (5-1), RV Illinois (6-5) and RV Ohio State (6-0) to claim its second consecutive tourney title.
The second-ranked Gators (50-6), who received 12 first-place votes and 758 points, are the NCAA’s No. 1 overall seed and will host Florida A&M, Florida International and Oklahoma State this weekend in Gainesville. Florida, who earned the No. 1 seed for the third straight year, fell in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament to eventual champion then-No. 19 Ole Miss.
Oregon, Florida State, Arizona and Oklahoma remained in the No. 3-6 rankings. The Ducks (44-6) earned the final two first-place votes and 739 points. Oregon closed out its regular season with a three-game sweep at Stanford (9-2, 8-0, 9-0) and is the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Seminoles (51-6-1) finished off with a ACC Tournament title, knocking off Virginia (16-0), Notre Dame (6-0) and host North Carolina (4-3) for their fourth straight championship. FSU earned the No. 4 national seed and will host No. 25 Georgia, Jacksonville State and Princeton.
The Pac-12 champion Wildcats (48-7) were idle last week and enter the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 overall seed. Arizona welcomes No. 24 South Carolina, RV Saint Francis and New Mexico State.
The Sooners (50-8), who earned the NCAA’s No. 10 overall seed, swept through the Big 12 Tournament not allowing a run, including a 2-0 blanking of Oklahoma State in the title tilt. Oklahoma, which also won the regular season, swept the both championships for the second time, the first coming in 1996.
No. 7 Washington and No. 8 Auburn switched spots this week. The Huskies (43-11) closed out the regular season with a three-game Pac-12 sweep of then-No. 13 Utah on the road, which including a thrilling comeback from a 12-1 deficit to edge the Utes in eight innings, 13-12. The Huskies are the No. 6 overall seed.
The NCAA’s No. 7 overall seed Auburn went 1-1 at the SEC tournament, defeating then-No. 18 Kentucky (2-0) before falling to then-No. 21 LSU in the semifinals.
Rounding out the top 10 is UCLA and Tennessee, who also switch positions in the poll. The Bruins (42-13) earned a road sweep at No. 22 Arizona State (4-3, 13-3, 12-3) and will be the No. 5 overall seed. The Vols (44-10), who hosted the SEC tournament, bowed out in the quarterfinals, falling to tournament runner-up LSU, 6-2 and will be the No. 8 overall seed and host a NCAA Regional.
The 2017 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 May 14.
2017 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll
Week 14 – May 16, 2017
Dropped Out: No. 23 Marshall
New to Poll: No. 23 Tulsa
Receiving Votes: Florida International (21), Mississippi State (21), Marshall (20), Arkansas (12), Ohio State (11), USC Upstate (10), Saint Francis (Pa.) (10), Illinois (6), California (4), Missouri (1).
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Records reflect games played through May 14.
