UCLA sweeps Washington, ascends to No. 1 in the 2018 USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Coaches Poll
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – UCLA swept Pac-12 rival and then-No. 1 Washington over the weekend to overtake the Huskies (41-5) for the No. 1 ranking in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Bruins (40-3), who received 29 first-place votes and 797 points, earned top billing for the first time since 2014 and ended UW’s nine-week reign atop the poll.
UCLA earned three hard-fought wins over Washington (3-0, 3-2, 1-0) to jump into first-place in the Pac-12 as well. The last time the Bruins were No. 1 in the NFCA poll was on April 1, 2014. They held the spot for two weeks.
Oregon jumped into the No. 2 hole after a 4-0 week, which included a big non-conference win over then-No. 2 Oklahoma (5-0) at The Jane. The Ducks (38-7) also swept a home Pac-12 series from Stanford (8-4, 4-1, 4-1).
The Sooners (41-3) bounced back from their defeat in Eugene, by taking two road wins over RV Oregon State (4-0, 8-0). They also edged Tulsa (1-0) on the road to start the week.
The Huskies dipped to No. 4 following the sweep, while Florida remained at No. 5. The Gators (41-7) knocked off Florida A&M (19-3) and went on the road to sweep then-No. 19 Mississippi State (8-3, 6-2, 3-0).
Georgia and Tennessee come in tied at No. 6. The Bulldogs (40-7) were 3-1 with two victories over No. 20 Kentucky, while the Lady Vols (40-8) posted a 3-0 mark, defeating then-No. 17 Alabama twice in Tuscaloosa.
Florida State leaped two spots to No. 8. The Seminoles (38-8) blanked Louisville in the first two games of its ACC series. Arizona State slipped to No. 9 and Arizona moved to No. 10 after the Wildcats (31-13) took two-out-of-three from the Sun Devils (35-9) in Tempe.
The 2018 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 22.
2018 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – April 24 (Week 11)
Rank
School
Totals
2018
Last Poll
1
UCLA (29)
797
40-3
3
2
Oregon
749
38-7
4
3
Oklahoma (3)
734
41-3
2
4
Washington
721
41-5
1
5
Florida
675
41-7
5
6
Georgia
617
40-7
6
6
Tennessee
617
40-8
7
8
Florida State
547
38-8
10
9
Arizona State
497
35-9
8
10
Arizona
477
31-13
13
11
Texas A&M
445
37-12
9
12
Auburn
437
38-11
11
13
LSU
422
35-11
15
14
South Carolina
397
37-11
12
15
Michigan
391
38-7
14
16
Arkansas
311
34-11
16
17
Long Beach State
284
36-9
18
18
Alabama
250
27-15
17
19
Baylor
201
29-13
21
20
Kentucky
190
28-15
20
21
Texas State
131
35-10
23
22
Louisiana
125
31-12
22
23
Mississippi State
108
33-15
19
24
Hofstra
82
34-8
25
25
Oklahoma State
41
34-14
24
New to Poll: None
Dropped Out: None
Receiving Votes: Drake (35), California (28), Northwestern (23), Ohio State (19), James Madison (18), Mercer (6), Wichita State (6), Boise State (5), Kennesaw State (5), Fresno State (4), Oregon State (3), Minnesota (1), Saint Francis (Pa.) (1).
The 2018 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 play through April 22, 2018