No. 1 Oklahoma runs winning streak to 31
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following a road sweep of No. 11 Texas, Oklahoma ran its winning streak to 31 and maintained its hold on No. 1 in this week’s 2019 USA Today / NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners (41-2) picked up 26 first-place votes and 790 points.
OU opened the key Big 12 series with a pair of closely-contested victories, knocking off the Longhorns (36-12) 3-1 and 4-3 in eight innings before running away with a 9-2 triumph to complete the sweep and match the program’s longest winning streak at 31. Additionally, the Sooners extended their Big 12 streak to a program and conference-record 37 games.
UCLA swept Oregon State on the road in Pac-12 play reach the 40-win plateau. The Bruins (40-2) collected the final six first-place votes and 773 points.
Alabama rose to No. 3 following a SEC road sweep at then-No. 6 Florida. Behind a strong pitching performance (two runs allowed), the Crimson Tide (45-4) earned their first sweep of the Gators (37-12) since 2006 and the first in Gainesville since 2001.
Washington dropped one spot to No. 4 after it had its 16-game winning streak snapped in game three at Utah. The Huskies (38-7) finished the week 3-1, scoring at least 11 runs in each of their three victories.
Arizona leapfrogged to No. 5 as it cruised to a three-game Pac-12 sweep of RV Stanford. Stretching their winning streak to 20 contests, the Wildcats (38-7) outscored the Cardinal 29-3 and have scored five or more runs 17 times during their streak.
Florida State and Florida dipped to No. 6 and 7. The Seminoles (41-8) did reach the 40-win mark last week, but dropped their first three games to North Carolina (twice) and Florida before sweeping Boston College at home. The Gators finished the week 1-3, earning a 4-0 win in Tallahassee.
Louisiana moved up to No. 8 as it pushed its winning streak to 19 contests. The Ragin’ Cajuns (42-4) put together a 5-0 week, which included run-ruling Georgia State in all three Sun Belt matchups, to reach the 40-win mark. Additionally, Louisiana set a record for best conference start (21-0), eclipsing its own 18-0 start in 2001 & 2004.
No. 9 Tennessee and No. 10 LSU each suffered a pair of SEC defeats to fall one spot each. The Lady Vols (34-10) went 2-2 last week, picking up a win over ETSU ahead of dropping two-for-three at then-No. 16 Georgia. The Tigers (37-11) were defeated twice at then-No. 19 Arkansas before grabbing a game-three win.
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 21, 2019.
2019 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – April 23 (Week 11)
Rank
School
Totals
2019
Record
Prev. Ranking
1
Oklahoma (26)
790
41-2
1
2
UCLA (6)
773
40-2
2
3
Alabama
728
45-4
5
4
Washington
705
38-7
3
5
Arizona
662
38-7
7
6
Florida State
622
41-8
4
7
Florida
593
37-12
6
8
Louisiana
567
42-4
10
9
Tennessee
535
34-10
8
10
LSU
505
37-11
9
11
Texas
471
36-12
11
12
Oklahoma State
392
33-11
13
13
Texas Tech
373
35-9
12
14
South Carolina
356
34-12
15
15
Georgia
326
33-15
16
16
Minnesota
304
32-10
18
17
Ole Miss
268
33-12
17
18
Arkansas
259
34-15
19
19
Auburn
250
34-12
14
20
James Madison
239
36-7
20
21
Northwestern
166
36-7
23
22
Michigan
158
33-11
22
23
Kentucky
116
28-18
24
24
Virginia Tech
105
40-8
21
25
Colorado State
36
33-7
25
New to Poll: None.
Dropped Out: None.
Receiving Votes: North Carolina (32), Wisconsin (27), Boise State (18), Drake (10), Missouri (3), Ohio State (3), Louisville (2), Stanford (2), Tulsa (2), UNLV (1), USC Upstate (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 21, 2019.