Cal Takes Over No. 1 In Latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
March 27, 2012
STARKVILLE, Miss. – After suffering its first loss of the season last week, Alabama fell from the top spot in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll and was replaced by California, the Association announced on Tuesday.
California (29-1) opened Pac-12 play last week with a sweep of then ninth-ranked Stanford to top the rankings for the first time since Feb. 23, 2005. The Golden Bears received 20 of 30 first-place votes, while No. 2 Alabama (30-1) received the remaining 10. The Crimson Tide’s 26-game win-streak came to a halt last Wednesday when they were upended by then 12th-ranked Tennessee (23-7), 5-2, in the backside of a SEC doubleheader.
The rest of the top five was unchanged this week, as Washington (32-1), Florida (29-2) and Arizona State (31-3) all reprised their roles at third through, fifth, respectively.
No. 8 Louisiana-Lafayette (30-1) also held on to its ranking this week, despite suffering its first loss of 2012 on the road at Troy. With the Louisiana-Lafayette and Alabama losses last week, that leaves No. 11 Louisville (27-0) as the nation’s lone remaining undefeated team.
Despite losing to No. 1 Alabama by a total of just three runs over two games last week, DePaul (16-10) fell from the poll after being ranked for three-straight weeks. Moving back into the rankings this week was New Mexico (22-6), which used a 5-0 week to return to the poll after a one-week absence.
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 25, 2012 are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.
|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
Totals |
Last Poll |
|
1 |
California (20) |
740 |
29-1 |
2 |
|
2 |
Alabama (10) |
724 |
30-1 |
1 |
|
3 |
Washington |
691 |
32-1 |
3 |
|
4 |
Florida |
656 |
29-2 |
4 |
|
5 |
Arizona St. |
634 |
31-3 |
5 |
|
6 |
Texas |
598 |
26-2 |
6 |
|
7 |
Oklahoma |
563 |
26-4 |
7 |
|
8 |
La.-Lafayette |
526 |
30-1 |
8 |
|
9 |
Georgia |
487 |
27-5 |
11 |
|
10 |
Tennessee |
470 |
23-7 |
12 |
|
11 |
Louisville |
454 |
27-0 |
13 |
|
12 |
Missouri |
409 |
23-5 |
10 |
|
13 |
Stanford |
401 |
25-6 |
9 |
|
14 |
UCLA |
356 |
21-6 |
16 |
|
15 |
Texas A&M |
282 |
22-9 |
19 |
|
16 |
Hawai‘i |
271 |
26-3 |
18 |
|
17 |
Oregon |
263 |
19-4 |
17 |
|
17 |
Baylor |
248 |
22-8 |
15 |
|
19 |
Arizona |
241 |
19-8 |
14 |
|
20 |
Michigan |
223 |
21-9 |
20 |
|
21 |
USF |
159 |
29-5 |
22 |
|
22 |
Florida St. |
139 |
29-5 |
23 |
|
23 |
North Carolina |
57 |
22-8 |
24 |
|
24 |
Auburn |
49 |
24-9 |
21 |
|
25 |
New Mexico |
40 |
22-6 |
RV |
Dropped Out: No. 25 DePaul
Others Receiving Votes: LSU 30, Tulsa 14, Oregon St. 6, DePaul 5, Georgia Tech 3, Kentucky 3, Syracuse 3, BYU 2, Troy 2, Kansas 1
