College Rankings: Week 8… Oklahoma On Top for 6th Straight Week, Texas State Breaks Into Top 25

The teams at the top stayed mostly same both major polls with Kentucky, after splitting some games with SEC rival Tennessee, dropped out of the Top 10.

Here’s a quiz for you: Oklahoma (28-0) has now put together a 35-game win streak going back to last year and UCLA (19-1) has only one loss in 2021… who are the only two teams in the rankings with just two losses? One might be obvious but the other… not so much!

Answer below!

After all the action in Week 8, here are the latest college rankings per the two big polls: USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball.

… and the answer to the questions above: Oregon (26-2) at #’s 3 & 4 in the Top 25 and Northwestern (18-2), rated #’s 21 and 22!

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Oklahoma tops rankings for sixth straight week in 2021 USA Today/NFCA DI Top 25 Poll

Oklahoma enters its sixth straight week as the No. 1 program in the 2021 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners rolled to three more Big 12 wins to run their undefeated start to 28 games as they were tabbed No. 1 unanimously for the fourth consecutive week.

OU’s (28-0) three victories over Kansas pushed its overall win streak to 35 games and Big 12 streak to 49 consecutive contests. Additionally, the Sooners have won 56 consecutive Big 12 series.

The next six spots after Oklahoma did not change. No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Florida each dropped a conference game, but all came out on top for the week.

The Ducks (26-2) took three-of-four from Oregon State, while the Crimson Tide (29-4) bounced back from a March 29 defeat against then-No. 7 Kentucky to sweep then-RV Texas A&M in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play.

The Gators (26-4) earned a mid-week win at Jacksonville and split the first two SEC road matchups at No. 20 Georgia.

No. 6 Washington and No. 7 Texas both enjoyed undefeated weekends as the Huskies swept all four contests from Pac-12 foe California and the Longhorns (27-3) opened Big 12 play with three home wins over Texas Tech.

Arizona (22-5) and Florida State (24-6) each moved up one spot to No. 8 and 9, following 4-0 outings in their respective conference series against Stanford and then-RV Notre Dame.

A pair of SEC programs, Arkansas and Kentucky, tied for 10^th. The Razorbacks (31-3), undefeated at 12-0 in league play, swept RV Auburn on the road to be the first DI program to reach the 30-win mark.

The Wildcats (27-6) opened the week with triumphs over No. 4 Alabama and Morehead State before dropping two-of-three on the road at No. 21 Tennessee.

Texas State, on the heels of a 17-game win streak, made its 2021 ranking debut at No. 25. The Bobcats (24-3) are off to an 8-0 start in Sun Belt Conference play and are undefeated at home in 17 contests.

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 April 4. Programs not competing in 2021 will not be eligible for ranking consideration.

2021 USA Today / NFCA Division I
Top 25 Coaches Poll – April 6 (Week 8)

New to Poll: No. 25 Texas State. 

Dropped Out: No. 25 Baylor.

Receiving Votes: Wichita State (19), Texas A&M (18), James Madison (13), Fresno State (9), Auburn (8), Baylor (8), Minnesota (7), Tulsa (6), Western Kentucky (3), BYU (2), Miami (Ohio) (2), Ole Miss (2), Cal State Fullerton (1), Troy (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 April 4.

*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 8 – April 6, 2021

Collecting three more Big 12 wins in their series sweep over Kansas, Oklahoma (28-0, 6-0 Big 12) has been tabbed No. 1 for the sixth straight week with the release of the Week 8 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.

Pushing their unbeaten streak to 35 straight games with the win, the Sooners have a midweek matchup against Wichita State and a three-game series at Baylor slated for Week 9.

No. 2 UCLA (19-1, 3-0 Pac-12) remains solid in the standings while No. 3 Alabama (29-4, 9-3 SEC) and No. 4 Oregon (26-2, 5-1 Pac-12) battle week-to-week over the No. 3 spot.

For the eighth straight week, Florida (26-4, 9-2 SEC) sits at No. 5.

Week 8 games for the Bruins were cancelled due to COVID-19 developments within the UCLA program. The Crimson Tide swept then-No. 24 Texas A&M despite the early week loss to then-No. 7 Kentucky, while the Ducks claimed three-of-four over Oregon State.

The Gators went 3-0 with a midweek 5-1 victory over Jacksonville before splitting the series 1-1 against then-No. 23 Georgia on the road.

1.	Oklahoma (19) Big 12 Record: 28-0	Previous Rank: 1
		Points: 498
2.	UCLA Pac-12 Record: 19-1	Previous Rank: 2
		Points: 479
3.	Alabama (1) SEC Record: 29-4	Previous Rank: 4
		Points: 442
4.	Oregon Pac-12 Record: 26-2	Previous Rank: 3
		Points: 435
5.	Florida SEC Record: 26-4	Previous Rank: 5
		Points: 421
6.	Washington Pac-12 Record: 28-4	Previous Rank: 6
		Points: 386
7.	Arizona Pac-12 Record: 22-5	Previous Rank: 8
		Points: 354
T8.	Arkansas SEC Record: 31-3	Previous Rank: 11
		Points: 341
T8.	Texas Big 12 Record: 27-3	Previous Rank: 9
		Points: 341
10.	Florida State ACC Record: 24-6	Previous Rank: 10
		Points: 335
11.	Kentucky SEC Record: 27-6	Previous Rank: 7
		Points: 304
12.	Oklahoma State Big 12 Record: 29-5	Previous Rank: 12
		Points: 280
13.	Virginia Tech ACC Record: 23-6	Previous Rank: 16
		Points: 241
14.	Arizona State Pac-12 Record: 21-9	Previous Rank: 13
		Points: 230
15.	LSU SEC Record: 21-12	Previous Rank: 15
		Points: 214
16.	Tennessee SEC Record: 28-6	Previous Rank: 18
		Points: 190
17.	Louisiana Sun Belt Record: 25-6	Previous Rank: 17
		Points: 180
18.	Clemson ACC Record: 26-4	Previous Rank: 19
		Points: 153
19.	Missouri SEC Record: 28-7	Previous Rank: 20
		Points: 143
20.	Duke ACC Record: 26-7	Previous Rank: 14
		Points: 140
21.	Northwestern Big Ten Record: 18-2	Previous Rank: T21
		Points: 102
22.	Georgia SEC Record: 23-6	Previous Rank: 23
		Points: 80
23.	Texas State Sun Belt Record: 24-3	Previous Rank: RV
		Points: 50
24.	Michigan Big Ten Record: 13-3	Previous Rank: RV
		Points: 37
25.	Texas A&M SEC Record: 25-8	Previous Rank: 24
		Points: 33

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

Dropped Out: Auburn, UCF
New to Poll: Michigan, Texas State

Others receiving votes: James Madison (27), UCF (26), Western Kentucky (11), Minnesota (10), Auburn (7), Ole Miss (7), Boston (4), Tulsa (4), Illinois (3), Notre Dame (3), Southern Illinois (3).