The Clemson softball team fell one spot in the new USA TODAY/NFCA Division I Top 25 coaches poll, released Tuesday, April 30.
The Tigers took two of three from Louisville over the weekend to close out their regular season with a series victory in ACC play.
Coach John Rittman’s team ended the regular season 33-16 overall and 15-9 in conference action. That was enough to place the Tigers at No. 23 in the coaches poll, compiled by the 32 head coaches who make up the rankings.
In other rankings, the Tigers checked in at No. 22 in the ESPN.com/Softball USA Top 25 rankings. They remained unranked in both the Softball America Top 25 poll and D1Softball poll. Clemson is No. 24 in the NCAA’s RPI rankings.
The top five teams remained the same in the coaches poll from last week with Texas (42-6 overall) staying at No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week. Oklahoma (45-4) stayed at No. 2 with Tennessee (37-8) at No. 3, Oklahoma State (42-8) at No. 4, and Duke (39-6) at No. 5.
The Blue Devils were once again the highest ranked ACC team in the coaches poll and one of four league members in this week’s rankings. ACC leader Florida State rose four spots to land at No. 12 after another 4-0 week. Virginia Tech fell three spots to No. 16.
The SEC led the way with 10 teams ranked in the coaches poll.
Next up for Clemson is the ACC Tournament, scheduled to begin May 9 in Durham. Official seeding for the tournament will be finalized after the weekend.