Alabama Maintains Hold on Top Spot USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25
March 20, 2012
STARKVILLE, Miss. – For the fourth time in as many weeks, Alabama topped the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll, the Association announced on Tuesday.
The Crimson Tide is off to a 25-0 start this season and received 28 of the 30 first-place votes this week. Despite suffering its first loss of the season at the hands of then No. 18 Hawai‘i (24-2), California picked up the remaining two first-place votes and remained at No. 2 in the latest poll. The rest of the top five also remained unchanged as Washington (27-1), Florida (26-2) and Arizona St. (28-3) held tight at third through fifth, respectively.
With losses by California and Hawai‘i last week, only three teams in Division I remain undefeated after almost two months of play: No. 1 Alabama, No. 8 Louisiana-Lafayette (26-0) and No. 13 Louisville (22-0). The Crimson Tide will look to stay undefeated this week despite a tough schedule that features two-game sets with SEC rival and 12th-ranked No. 25 DePaul (15-7) and Longwood. The road to perfection will also be tough for Louisiana-Lafayette this week, as they host Georgia Tech in a mid-week doubleheader and travel to Troy for a three-game Sun Belt series. Louisville’s schedule is equally as difficult this week and features a double-header with Ohio State and a Big East opening three-game set with Pittsburgh.
After a one-week absence from the poll, North Carolina returned to the fray this week at No. 24 and as a result pushed previous No. 23 New Mexico (17-6) out of the rankings.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Records as of March 18, 2012 are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.
|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
Totals |
Last Poll |
|
1 |
Alabama (28) |
25-0 |
746 |
1 |
|
2 |
California (2) |
25-1 |
712 |
2 |
|
3 |
Washington |
27-1 |
692 |
3 |
|
4 |
Florida |
26-2 |
654 |
4 |
|
5 |
Arizona St. |
28-3 |
597 |
5 |
|
6 |
Texas |
23-2 |
588 |
6 |
|
7 |
Oklahoma |
24-3 |
579 |
7 |
|
8 |
La.-Lafayette |
26-0 |
565 |
10 |
|
9 |
Stanford |
25-3 |
504 |
9 |
|
10 |
Missouri |
20-3 |
463 |
12 |
|
11 |
Georgia |
23-5 |
439 |
8 |
|
12 |
Tennessee |
19-6 |
403 |
11 |
|
13 |
Louisville |
22-0 |
393 |
14 |
|
14 |
Arizona |
18-4 |
378 |
13 |
|
15 |
Baylor |
21-6 |
307 |
15 |
|
16 |
UCLA |
20-6 |
302 |
16 |
|
17 |
Hawai‘i |
24-2 |
271 |
18 |
|
17 |
Oregon |
18-4 |
271 |
17 |
|
19 |
Texas A&M |
20-8 |
177 |
22 |
|
20 |
Michigan |
17-9 |
171 |
19 |
|
21 |
Auburn |
23-6 |
157 |
20 |
|
22 |
USF |
24-5 |
122 |
24 |
|
23 |
Florida St. |
23-5 |
112 |
21 |
|
24 |
North Carolina |
21-8 |
43 |
RV |
|
25 |
DePaul |
15-7 |
36 |
24 |
Dropped Out: No. 23 New Mexico
Others Receiving Votes: Oregon St. 22, Georgia Tech 11, New Mexico 10, LSU 7, S.C. Upstate 7, Syracuse 5, Tulsa 3, McNeese St. 2, Kansas 1
