College Rankings: Week 5… Oklahoma Unanimous #1, UCLA & Alabama Battling for #2 Behind Sooners

And then there was one… one undefeated team in the Top 25 college rankings, that is.

Oklahoma remains on top after running its season win streak to 22, but there are three teams right behind with one loss: UCLA, Alabama and Oregon (Duke also has just one defeat and is also in the Top 25).

Teams are starting to hit conference play heavily so it should be a time to see who are the contenders… and pretenders!

After all the action in Week 5, here are the latest college rankings…

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Oklahoma Unanimous No. 1 in 2021 USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Poll

Oklahoma extended its unbeaten start to 22 games and is the unanimous No. 1 in this week’s 2021 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners (22-0) received all 32 first-place votes and 800 points.

Co-hosting the Hall of Fame Classic, OU sandwiched a pair of run-rule wins over Houston (9-1) and Liberty (16-0) with late-inning victories versus Kansas City (6-2) and the Lady Flames (5-4). Additionally, they topped UT Arlington, 14-0, in a mid-week tilt. The Sooners welcome Team Mexico for three exhibition games over the upcoming weekend before Big 12 play opens the following weekend.

Moving up into the No. 2 through 6 spots were UCLA, Alabama, Oregon, Florida and Washington as Arizona stumbled in its trip to the Sunshine State and dropped from No. 2 to No. 7.

The Bruins (15-1) rattled off five non-conference wins at home, including the final four via shutout in doubleheader sweeps of UC Santa Barbara and UNLV.

The Bruins and Ducks open Pac-12 play at home this upcoming weekend, hosting No. 11 Arizona State and Utah, respectively, in four-game series.

The Crimson Tide (22-1) opened Southeastern Conference (SEC) play with a road sweep of in-state rival and then-No. 21 Auburn, and the Ducks (16-1) topped Sacramento State twice and Oregon State once at home. In three tightly-contested matchups, the Gators (17-2) took two-of-three from No. 9 Kentucky in SEC play and also blanked Kennesaw State in mid-week action.

Hemphill Dowling
🤝
Bailey Bombs 💣 pic.twitter.com/sXMyXaixDa

— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) March 15, 2021

The sixth-ranked Huskies (20-2) extended their winning streak to 10 games with two victories each over Seattle and Portland State in their first home games since the 2019 Super Regionals. Washington remains at home this weekend as it opens Pac-12 play with a four-game set against the seventh-ranked Wildcats (14-3).

The aforementioned Arizona Wildcats closed out their seven-game trip to the state of Florida with a 2-3 showing last week, going 1-3 against nationally-ranked foes. They picked up a 1-0 victory in game two of a three-game series against then-No. 15 Florida State. UA fell in the opener and finale to the Seminoles (13-5) as well as being shut out at then-No. 22 UCF.

No. 8 Oklahoma State, co-host of the Hall of Fame Classic, swept a twinbill from Liberty before having its eight-game winning streak snapped by Houston.

Kentucky and No. 10 Texas remain in their spots to close out the top 10. After dropping their first two games of the season to the Gators, the Wildcats (20-2) rebounded with a game-three 4-2 win in the series finale. The Longhorns (15-2) enjoyed a 5-0 week at home with four in-state victories and one against BYU.

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 March 14. Programs not competing in 2021 will not be eligible for ranking consideration.

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2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I

Top 25 Coaches Poll – March 16 (Week 5)

New to Poll: None 

Dropped Out: None 

Receiving Votes: Baylor (62), Northwestern (37), Southern Illinois (13), Iowa State (12), Illinois (11), Liberty (3), South Alabama (3), Texas State (3), Fresno State (1), James Madison (1), Ole Miss (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 March 14.

*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 5 – Mar.16, 2021

Unanimously voted as the No. 1 team in the Week 5 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, the undefeated Oklahoma Sooners (22-0) received all 20 first-place votes following a 5-0 week as co-hosts of the Hall of Fame Classic.

Jumping ahead two spots is No. 2 Alabama (22-1) who swept then-No. 22 Auburn (16-4) on the road at the start of Southeastern Conference (SEC) play. Rounding out the Top 3 and holding steady at No. 3 is UCLA (15-1), who went 6-0 after contests against UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and UNLV at home.

No. 4 Oregon (16-1) enters the Top 5 after a 3-0 week, while the No. 5 Florida Gators (17-2) clinched the series over then-No. 10 Kentucky (20-2) in game 2 despite a late-inning win for the Wildcats in game three on SEC Opening Weekend.

1.	Oklahoma (20) Big 12 Record: 22-0	Previous Rank: 1
		Points: 500
2.	Alabama SEC Record: 22-1	Previous Rank: 4
		Points: 461
3.	UCLA Pac-12 Record: 15-1	Previous Rank: 3
		Points: 449
4.	Oregon Pac-12 Record: 16-1	Previous Rank: 6
		Points: 431
5.	Florida SEC Record: 17-2	Previous Rank: 5
		Points: 404
6.	Oklahoma State Big 12 Record: 20-2	Previous Rank: 7
		Points: 375
7.	Washington Pac-12 Record: 20-2	Previous Rank: 8
		Points: 364
8.	Arizona Pac-12 Record: 14-3	Previous Rank: 2
		Points: 358
9.	Arizona State Pac-12 Record: 17-2	Previous Rank: 9
		Points: 302
10.	Kentucky SEC Record: 20-2	Previous Rank: 10
		Points: 293
11.	Texas Big 12 Record: 15-2	Previous Rank: 11
		Points: 291
12.	LSU SEC Record: 15-7	Previous Rank: 12
		Points: 278
13.	Florida State ACC Record: 13-5	Previous Rank: 16
		Points: 269
14.	Duke ACC Record: 19-1	Previous Rank: 13
		Points: 260
15.	Louisiana Sun Belt Record: 13-4	Previous Rank: 14
		Points: 204
16.	Virginia Tech ACC Record: 10-3	Previous Rank: 15
		Points: 175
17.	Arkansas SEC Record: 20-2	Previous Rank: 19
		Points: 172
18.	Missouri SEC Record: 19-4	Previous Rank: 18
		Points: 168
19.	Tennessee SEC Record: 18-3	Previous Rank: 17
		Points: 141
20.	Georgia SEC Record: 19-2	Previous Rank: 21
		Points: 127
21.	UCF AAC Record: 17-3	Previous Rank: 24
		Points: 94
22.	Northwestern Big Ten Record: 11-1	Previous Rank: 23
		Points: 73
23.	Auburn SEC Record: 16-4	Previous Rank: 22
		Points: 63
24.	South Carolina SEC Record: 13-6	Previous Rank: 20
		Points: 41
25.	Clemson ACC Record: 16-2	Previous Rank: RV
		Points: 38

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

Dropped Out: Michigan
New to Poll: Clemson

Others receiving votes: Baylor (33), Texas A&M (25), Michigan (23), Illinois (18), Texas State (16), Southern Illinois (13), Virginia (11), Stanford (9), Minnesota (7), Mississippi State (7), Iowa State (3), James Madison (1), Ole Miss (1).