Longhorns unanimous, Top 10 shakeup in USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Coaches Poll
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Big 12 regular season champs Texas earned the unanimous No. 1 ranking in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. A sweep of Texas Tech, coupled with Oklahoma State winning Bedlam, vaulted the Longhorns (45-6) into their first outright league title since 2010.
Extending its winning streak to 16, Texas thumped Texas Tech in Lubbock, outscoring the Red Raiders, 50-7, over 15 innings. It included the largest offensive outburst in program history, a 23-0 game-two triumph, matching a 23-0 win over Cal State Fullerton in 2012.
With their first Bedlam triumph in Norman since 1993, the Cowgirls (44-9) moved into the No. 3 ranking with the Sooners (46-6) falling to No. 4, their lowest ranking since finishing sixth in the final poll of the shortened 2020 season. Texas, OU and OSU will be the top three seeds at the Big 12 Tournament. The Pokes took the first two games, rallying behind the longball, before the Sooners used a big sixth inning to take the finale and snap OSU’s 10-game win streak.
Back-to-back Southeastern Conference regular season champions Tennessee took over the No. 2 ranking after a three-game sweep of then-No. 24 Kentucky. The Lady Vols’ (40-9) game-two triumph over the Wildcats gave them their first-ever consecutive regular-season titles and third overall.
Fifth-ranked Duke (43-6), which enjoyed a bye week, was crowned Atlantic Coast Conference regular season champs for the first time in program history after then-No. 12 Florida State dropped two-of-three to Syracuse. No. 6 UCLA, which collected another Pac-12 title (13th), flip-flopped with Stanford.
Florida (43-12) returned to the top 10 at No. 8 after a week which saw it win an 11-inning slugfest at Florida State, 15-13, before sweeping then-No. 8 Texas A&M at home to secure the No. 2 overall seed at the SEC Championship.
The Aggies (39-12) dropped one spot to No. 9 and LSU (38-14) made the biggest fall, careening four positions to No. 10 after a 2-1 week at home against Liberty.
Falling out of the top 10 for the first time this season was Washington (31-12), which lost both Pac-12 games at Utah with the finale canceled due to weather.
Other regular-conference champions in the rankings include No. 21 Louisiana (40-16) out of the Sun Belt, No. 22 Boston University (49-4-1) from the Patriot League and poll newcomer Northwestern (33-10). The 25th-ranked Wildcats clinched their third-consecutive Big Ten title with a series win over Indiana, marking the first three-peat since NFCA Hall of Famer Sharon Drysdale led Northwestern to four straight crowns between 1984 and 1987.
The 2024 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. Results are through May 5. The poll is revealed each Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. ET during the regular season.
2024 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – 5/7/24
| Rank | School
(First Place Votes) |
Points | Record | Previous Ranking |
| 1 | Texas (32) | 800 | 45-6 | 1 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 747 | 40-9 | 3 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | 736 | 44-9 | 4 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 717 | 46-6 | 2 |
| 5 | Duke | 664 | 43-6 | 5 |
| 6 | UCLA | 636 | 34-10 | 7 |
| 7 | Stanford | 622 | 42-12 | 6 |
| 8 | Florida | 564 | 43-12 | 11 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 502 | 39-12 | 8 |
| 10 | LSU | 483 | 38-14 | 10 |
| 11 | Missouri | 480 | 40-14 | 13 |
| 12 | Washington | 435 | 31-12 | 9 |
| 13 | Florida State | 370 | 41-13 | 12 |
| 14 | Georgia | 368 | 38-15 | 14 |
| 15 | Virginia Tech | 349 | 38-11-1 | 16 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 335 | 36-15 | 15 |
| 17 | Mississippi State | 271 | 33-17 | 20 |
| 18 | Arizona | 268 | 33-15-1 | 18 |
| 19 | California | 232 | 36-16 | 19 |
| 20 | Alabama | 203 | 33-16 | 17 |
| 21 | Louisiana | 161 | 40-16 | 21 |
| 22 | Boston University | 156 | 49-4-1 | 22 |
| 23 | Clemson | 81 | 33-16 | 23 |
| 24 | Oregon | 57 | 28-18 | 25 |
| 25 | Northwestern | 46 | 33-10 | RV |
New to Poll: No. 25 Northwestern
Dropped Out: No. 24 Kentucky
Receiving Votes: Kentucky (36), Miami (32), Texas State (18), Baylor (9), Grand Canyon (9), South Carolina (9), Virginia (9), Auburn (1).
The 2024 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 May 5. Poll is released on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. ET during the regular season.