College Rankings: Week 13… Oklahoma Takes Big 12 Title, Stays #1 Ahead of UCLA, Alabama

Oklahoma suffered only its second loss of the season but, in taking the Bedlam Series at Oklahoma State, captured the Big 12 regular season championship for the 9^th straight year.

Here are the latest college rankings per the two big polls—USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball—which were released on Tuesday…

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Oklahoma keeps hold on No. 1 in USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Coaches Poll

Oklahoma kept its hold on No. 1 and the top five remained the same in this week’s 2021 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. Ranked first for the 11^th straight week, the Sooners, who captured Bedlam with a 2-1 series win over No. 9 Oklahoma State, received 25 first-place votes and 793 points.

With the Big 12 regular season on the line, OU (42-2) rebounded from a 6-4 game-one defeat in Stillwater with 6-4 and 11-8 triumphs to wrap up its ninth consecutive regular-season title. The Sooners also earned a mid-week win over then-No. 25 Wichita State. The series-opening victory by the Cowgirls (40-8) was their first over the Sooners since 2011 and it also handed OU its first Big 12 regular season loss since 2017.

No. 2 UCLA (38-3) collected five first-place votes (773) following a 6-0 week, which included a four-game sweep of Stanford, three of which came via shutout. Earning the final first-place vote, No. 3 Alabama (42-7) swept RV Ole Miss in its final regular-season Southeastern Conference (SEC) series.

No. 4 Florida closed at the regular season with a SEC series sweep of Texas A&M, which included a pair of comeback victories over the Aggies. The Gators (40-8) clinched their ninth regular-season title, sharing it with No. 6 Arkansas, and will be the No. 1 seed at the SEC Tournament. UF was the only program to win every conference series in 2021.

Fifth-ranked Washington collected four wins over Utah in Pac-12 play. No. 7 and No. 8 Arizona each dropped on spot. The Seminoles (38-9-1) took two-of-three from Pitt in an Atlantic Coast Conference finale, while the Wildcats (40-8) split their four-game set with then-No. 12 Oregon on the road.

No. 10 Texas returned to the top-10, blanking Baylor in a three-game Big 12 sweep of the Bears.

Liberty makes its first-ever appearance in the rankings at No. 25. The Flames (39-13) won the ASUN North Division title and reached the tournament semifinals taking two-of-three from Lipscomb in the quarterfinal round.

The 2021 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Records reflect games played through May 9. Programs not competing in 2021 will not be eligible for ranking consideration.

2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – May 11 (Week 13)

 New to Poll: No. 25 Liberty

Dropped Out: No. 22 Georgia

Receiving Votes: Georgia (25), Notre Dame (23), Ole Miss (21), Fresno State (15), Mississippi State (13), UCF (7), Miami University (6), Boston University (5), USF (3), Cal State Fullerton (1).

The 2021 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 9.

*Programs not competing in 2021 will not be eligible for ranking consideration.

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ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

2021 Season – Week 13 – May 12, 2021

Garnering 16 of 20 first-place votes and finishing the Big 12 regular season with a 16-1 record, No. 1 Oklahoma (42-2, 16-1 Big 12) stays atop the Week 13 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll. Suffering their second loss of the season to No. 7 Oklahoma State, the Sooners battled back to take Game 2 of the Bedlam series before capping weekend with an 11-8 win to secure the Big 12 regular season title.

No. 2 UCLA (38-3, 16-2 Pac-12) outscored their Week 13 opponents 39-4, claiming two mid-week wins against Long Beach State before finishing out the week with a series sweep over Stanford. No. 3 Alabama (42-7, 18-6 SEC) extended their win-streak to 10 games with a weekend sweep over No. 25 Ole Miss, while No. 4 Florida (40-8, 19-5 SEC) produced a come-from-behind, 6-5, Game 3 victory over Texas A&M to complete the series sweep and claim the SEC regular season title. Closing out the Top 5 with a series sweep over Utah is No. 5 Washington (39-9, 16-4 Pac-12).

1.	Oklahoma (16) Big 12 Record: 42-2	Previous Rank: 1
		Points: 496
2.	UCLA (3) Pac-12 Record: 38-2	Previous Rank: 2
		Points: 482
3.	Alabama (1) SEC Record: 42-7	Previous Rank: 3
		Points: 449
4.	Florida SEC Record: 40-8	Previous Rank: 4
		Points: 442
5.	Washington Pac-12 Record: 39-9	Previous Rank: 5
		Points: 414
6.	Arkansas SEC Record: 40-8	Previous Rank: 6
		Points: 388
7.	Oklahoma State Big 12 Record: 40-8	Previous Rank: 7
		Points: 376
8.	Florida State ACC Record: 38-9-1	Previous Rank: 9
		Points: 322
9.	Arizona State Pac-12 Record: 32-14	Previous Rank: 8
		Points: 314
10.	Clemson ACC Record: 40-5	Previous Rank: 11
		Points: 302
11.	Arizona Pac-12 Record: 35-10	Previous Rank: 10
		Points: 291
12.	Oregon Pac-12 Record: 33-15	Previous Rank: 12
		Points: 277
13.	Texas Big 12 Record: 38-9	Previous Rank: 14
		Points: 258
14.	LSU SEC Record: 31-18	Previous Rank: 13
		Points: 243
15.	Missouri SEC Record: 37-14	Previous Rank: 16
		Points: 219
16.	Kentucky SEC Record: 38-12	Previous Rank: 17
		Points: 204
17.	Tennessee SEC Record: 39-12	Previous Rank: 15
		Points: 163
T18.	Louisiana Sun Belt Record: 40-10	Previous Rank: 18
		Points: 153
T18.	Michigan Big Ten Record: 32-6	Previous Rank: 19
		Points: 153
20.	Virginia Tech ACC Record: 32-12	Previous Rank: 20
		Points: 125
21.	Duke ACC Record: 39-10	Previous Rank: 21
		Points: 124
22.	James Madison CAA Record: 31-1	Previous Rank: 22
		Points: 86
23.	Wichita State AAC Record: 32-6	Previous Rank: RV
		Points: 34
24.	Ole Miss SEC Record: 34-19	Previous Rank: 25
		Points: 27
25.	Liberty ASUN Record: 39-10	Previous Rank: RV
		Points: 26

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

Dropped Out: Georgia, Minnesota
New to Poll: Liberty, Wichita State

Others receiving votes: Boston (25), Minnesota (24), Notre Dame (22), Fresno State (20), UCF (17), Georgia (12), Mississippi State (8), North Texas (2) South Florida (2)