Red-hot Oklahoma dethrones No. 1 UCLA
May 6, 2019 | News | No Comments
LOUISVILLE, Ky. –A red-hot Oklahoma squad dethroned UCLA as the No. 1 team in this week’s 2019 USA Today / NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Riding a 28-game winning streak, the Sooners (38-2) ended the Bruins’ (37-2) five-week run atop the poll.
OU captured 22 first-place votes and 790 points, while No. 2 UCLA received 10 first-place nods and 773 points. The Sooners extended their NCAA Division I-best active winning streak by cruising to three shutouts at Kansas in Big 12 play. Oklahoma last held the top spot in the first regular-season poll of 2018.
The Bruins had their 19-game winning streak snapped by Oregon, 4-3, in the Pac-12 series opener. UCLA bounced back from their first league loss of the season with 8-3 and 8-1 triumphs over the Ducks to win the series.
In addition to a new No. 1, No. 23 Northwestern and No. 25 Colorado State return to the poll following long absences. The Wildcats (33-7), last ranked at No. 25 on April 22, 2014, are on a roll, having won 11 straight. Northwestern swept then-No. 25 Wisconsin over the weekend to remain the lone undefeated program in Big Ten play.
It’s been 21 years since the Rams (31-6) were ranked (23rd– March 4, 1998). CSU is enjoying a record season, which includes a program-record 20-game winning streak and a 13-2 mark for the first-place team in the Mountain West.
No. 3 Washington inched up another spot. The Huskies (35-6) swept their fourth straight Pac-12 series, taking down then-No. 24 Arizona State and extending their winning streak to 13 contests.
Florida State slipped to No. 4 following a weather-shortened 1-1 week. The Seminoles (38-5) dropped a wild 10-9 game at Louisville on April 8, which snapped an unbeaten streak of 52 consecutive ACC series. The last time FSU dropped a league series was May 5-6, 2012 at Maryland. They bounced back with an 8-6 win on April 14 at North Carolina.
No. 5 and No. 6 Florida went a combined 7-0 last week. The Crimson Tide (41-4) became the first NCAA program to reach the 40-win plateau in 2019 following a win over Georgia State and two versus then-No. 13 Georgia. The Gators (36-9) posted their second straight Southeastern Conference series sweep at Texas A&M and added a 1-0 triumph over in-state rival USF.
No. 7 Arizona and No. 8 Tennessee each moved up one position, while LSU fell two spots to No. 9. The Wildcats (35-7) stepped out of Pac-12 play and swept a three-game set at Grand Canyon, while the Lady Vols (32-8) cruised to a three-game SEC sweep of Mississippi State. The Tigers (36-9) posted a 3-1 mark last week. LSU blanked McNeese State before a 2-1 series win over then-No. 23 Kentucky.
No. 10 Louisiana extended its winning streak to 14 with a 4-0 week. The Ragin’ Cajuns (37-4) defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 7-1, before heading to the mountains of North Carolina for a Sun Belt sweep of Appalachian State.
No. 24 Arizona State (25-17) and No. 25 Wisconsin (30-8) dropped out of the Top-25.
The 2019 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. The records reflect games played through April 14, 2019.
2019 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – April 16 (Week 10)
Rank
School
Totals
2019
Record
Prev. Ranking
1
Oklahoma (22)
790
38-2
2
2
UCLA (10)
773
37-2
1
3
Washington
722
35-6
4
4
Florida State
695
38-5
3
5
Alabama
688
41-4
5
6
Florida
609
36-9
6
7
Arizona
600
35-7
8
8
Tennessee
564
32-8
9
9
LSU
560
36-9
7
10
Louisiana
524
37-4
10
11
Texas
477
35-9
11
12
Texas Tech
371
33-8
15
13
Oklahoma State
368
32-11
14
14
Auburn
353
33-10
12
15
South Carolina
350
31-12
16
16
Georgia
330
30-13
13
17
Ole Miss
290
30-11
17
18
Minnesota
248
29-10
19
19
Arkansas
241
31-14
18
20
James Madison
211
31-7
20
21
Virginia Tech
163
37-6
22
22
Michigan
132
29-11
21
23
Northwestern
118
33-7
RV
24
Kentucky
94
26-17
23
25
Colorado State
36
31-6
RV
New to Poll: No. 23 Northwestern, No. 25 Colorado State.
Dropped Out: No. 24 Arizona State, No. 25 Wisconsin.
Receiving Votes: Stanford (28), Boise State (19), Arizona State (17), Wisconsin (16), Missouri (5), Indiana (3), Mississippi State (2), Drake (1), Louisville (1), Tulsa (1).
The 2019 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. Record reflect games played through April 14, 2019.
