Tag: Coaches Poll

Wisconsin basketball drops out of final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Was Wisconsin’s 2023-24 season a success?

Wisconsin basketball found itself on the outside of the final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll of the 2023-24 season.

The Badgers entered March Madness ranked No. 24 and with a ton of momentum after a run to the finals of the Big Ten Tournament. What followed was an unfortunate first-round NCAA Tournament loss to No. 12-seed James Madison and a subsequent drop from the top 25.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin basketball’s reported transfer portal visits and targets

The loss draped a dark cloud over what looked to be a promising season. On one hand, the Badgers clearly improved after 2022-23 and had once of the best offenses in program history. On the other hand, the team lost early in the tournament — and that’s most of what matters to many.

The Badgers finish 2023-24 in the ‘receiving votes’ category of the poll — tied with James Madison at 30 points.

Only two Big Ten teams finished the season in this top 25: Purdue at No. 2 and Illinois at No. 7. It was another promising regular season of Big Ten basketball, but yet another campaign with little postseason success.

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Where UNC basketball ranks in final men’s basketball coaches poll for 2023-24

The UNC basketball program falls one spot in the final coaches poll for the 2023-24 season.

The 2023-24 college basketball season is officially over with UConn winning back-to-back titles after taking down Purdue on Monday night. It was another fun year in the sport with lots of exciting moments throughout, ending with the tournament.

With the season in the books, the USA TODAY Sports has released the final coaches poll for the season and there is really no surprises in the top two with UConn taking the top spot followed by No. 2 Purdue. But there was a shakeup in the top 5.

Alabama moved all the way up to No. 4, climbing 14 spots after reaching the Final Four. Tennessee moved up one spot to No. 5 and North Carolina fell from No. 5 to No. 6 in the poll.

The Tar Heels still finished ahead of Duke who checked in at No. 9 and NC State climbed 20 spots to No. 13 in the poll.

Without further ado, this is how the coaches ranked the teams following the end of the season.

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 UConn 37-3 775 (31) –
2 Purdue 34-5 744 +1
3 Houston 32-5 651 -1
4 Alabama 25-12 542 +14
5 Tennessee 27-9 638 +1
6 North Carolina 29-8 578 -1
7 Illinois 29-9 561 +3
8 Iowa State 29-8 539 -4
9 Duke 27-9 521 +5
10 Creighton 25-10 473 +1
11 Marquette 27-10 457 -3
12 Arizona 27-9 440 -3
13 North Carolina State 26-15 389 +20
14 Baylor 24-11 330 -1
15 Clemson 24-12 325 –
16 Gonzaga 27-8 312 –
17 Auburn 27-8 302 -10
18 San Diego State 26-11 217 +7
19 Kentucky 23-10 171 -7
20 Utah State 28-7 164 -1
21 Kansas 23-11 135 -1
22 Saint Mary’s 26-8 128 -7
23 South Carolina 26-8 124 -6
24 Washington State 25-10 62 +3
25 Texas Tech 23-11 49 -3

 

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No changes at the top of USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

The defending champs tumble out of the rankings as in-state school Louisiana jumps 12 spots.

The college basketball season ends on Monday night and all eyes shift to the chase for Omaha. Once again it is the SEC that is reigning supreme in the top 25 rankings with the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas A&M Aggies replacing last year’s CWS title game participants, the LSU Tigers and Florida Gators.

In the top 10, the Hogs and Ags are joined by the Tennessee Volunteers, Vanderbilt Commodores, and Kentucky Wildcats. The aforementioned Gators landed at No. 18 and the Tigers fell out of the rankings completely.

Kentucky and the UCF Knights are two big winners jumping eight spots in the poll. The Wildcats checked in at No. 8 overall while UCF jumped into the rankings at No. 19. The biggest winner of the week is Louisiana, who is No. 24 after being ranked No. 36.

The Gators were among the big losers after falling nine spots to No. 18. Last week’s No. 18 team, the LSU Tigers, dropped off completely. Florida was swept by unranked Missouri while No. 6 Vanderbilt took two of three from the Bayou Bengals.

Check out the full coaches poll that was released on Monday.

USA TODAY Sports College Baseball Coaches poll

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Arkansas 27-3 775 (31) –
2 Clemson 28-3 735 –
3 Texas A&M 28-4 716 –
4 Tennessee 26-6 656 –
5 Oregon State 26-4 655 –
6 Vanderbilt 25-7 609 –
7 Duke 24-8 580 +3
8 Kentucky 27-4 503 +8
9 Florida State 26-5 498 +3
10 Virginia 25-7 490 +1
11 East Carolina 23-7 440 +2
12 North Carolina 26-6 432 -5
13 Dallas Baptist 25-6 405 -5
14 UC Irvine 24-4 397 +3
15 Wake Forest 21-10 284 +7
16 Virginia Tech 21-8 216 -1
17 Alabama 22-10 192 -3
18 Florida 17-14 187 -9
19 UCF 21-8 186 +8
20 Coastal Carolina 22-9 166 +1
21 Nebraska 22-7 142 +2
22 Oregon 22-8 128 +7
23 Mississippi State 21-12 114 +3
24 Louisiana 24-8 109 +12
25 Oklahoma State 21-11 94 +7

Schools Dropped Out

No. 18 LSU; No. 19 South Carolina; No. 20 North Carolina State; No. 24 Georgia; No. 25 TCU

Other Receiving Votes

South Carolina 67; Indiana State 59; LSU 54; Georgia 45; Texas Tech 26; Creighton 23; Northeastern 14; TCU 12; North Carolina State 11; Lamar 11; Campbell 11; West Virginia 8; St. John’s 7; Ole Miss 4; Kansas State 4; Oklahoma 3; UC Santa Barbara 2; Southern Miss 2; Louisiana Tech 2; Utah 1

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Final coaches poll released after South Carolina survived March Madness

Final women’s coaches poll revealed with South Carolina and Iowa in the top 2 spots.

The NCAA women’s basketball has come to an end with several matchups setting the record as the most-watched game only to be outdone by the next one. Those games featured Iowa Hawkeyes’ star Caitlin Clark.

One of the most polarizing players was a vital reason why. After the national championship game ended, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley made sure to pay her respects to Clark.

“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport,” the coach said. “She carried a heavy load for our sport and it just is not gonna stop here on the collegiate tour. But when she is the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, she’s gonna lift that league up as well. So Caitlin Clark if you’re out there, you are one of the GOATs of our game. We appreciate you.”

After a historic season, we have the final coaches poll for women’s basketball.

Final USA TODAY Sports women’s coaches poll

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 South Carolina 38-0 750 (30) –
2 Iowa 34-5 720 –
3 UConn 33-6 678 +4
4 North Carolina State 31-7 645 +7
5 Texas 33-5 593 -1
6 USC 29-6 590 -3
7 LSU 31-6 572 -1
8 Stanford 30-6 518 -3
9 UCLA 27-7 513 -1
10 Oregon State 27-8 470 +5
11 Notre Dame 28-7 452 -1
12 Indiana 26-6 385 +2
13 Gonzaga 32-4 352 –
14 Ohio State 26-6 343 -5
15 Baylor 26-8 310 +3
16 Colorado 24-10 295 +1
17 Virginia Tech 25-8 262 -5
18 Kansas State 26-8 210 -2
19 Creighton 26-6 170 +1
20 Oklahoma 23-10 166 +1
21 Duke 22-12 149 –
22 Utah 23-11 121 –
23 Syracuse 24-8 115 –
24 UNLV 30-3 100 -5
25 West Virginia 25-8 75 +1

Schools Dropped Out

No. 24 Princeton; No. 25 Louisville

Others Receiving Votes

Iowa State 52; Louisville 29; Tennessee 27; Middle Tennessee 25; Nebraska 17; Princeton 15; Ole Miss 15; Fairfield 5; Richmond 3; Alabama 3; North Carolina 2; South Dakota State 1; Kansas 1; Jackson State 1

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Here’s where Clemson ranks in new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

NCAA Baseball: The Clemson Tigers stayed at No. 2 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, April 8.

Clemson remained at No. 2 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, April 8.

The Tigers improved to 28-3 overall and went 4-0 last week after a three-game series sweep of Notre Dame in conference play on Sunday.

Coach Erik Bakich’s team also stayed at No. 2 in the new Top 25 rankings for both D1Baseball and Baseball America.

Arkansas (27-3) remained at No. 1 after sweeping Ole Miss in a three-game series over the weekend. It’s the fifth consecutive week that the Razorbacks have been No. 1 in the coaches poll.

The top five remained the same as last week. Texas A&M (28-4) stayed at No. 3, with Tennessee (26-6) at No. 4 and Oregon State (26-4) at No. 5.

Other highly-ranked ACC schools in this week’s coaches poll are No. 7 Duke, No. 9 Florida State, and No. 10 Virginia.

North Carolina fell five spots to No. 12. Wake Forest (No. 15) and Virginia Tech (No. 16) also placed in the Top 25.

Clemson is scheduled to face SC Upstate in midweek action Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium before hosting NC State over the weekend.

Kentucky baseball up five spots in latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Kentucky baseball climbs in the latest USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team is having a good 2024 season. They currently sit at 24 – 4 overall, and 8 – 1 in SEC play. This past week, the team won all four of their games, and in the new USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, they jumped five spots in the top 25, up to 16th.

Kentucky scored 46 runs in their four games over the last week. Meanwhile, they held their opponents, Miami and Ole Miss, to just 18 total runs. It was a dominant week of play.

The Wildcats currently are in first place in the SEC standings, but are only the sixth highest SEC team in the Top 25. They’ll play one of the teams they’re behind next weekend when they host 14th ranked Alabama.

Kentucky has gotten production all over the lineup, but were led last week by Emilien Pitre, Nick Lopez, James McCoy, and Grant Smith, each of whom had multiple hits and RBIs. The pitching staff was excellent over the four games as well.

There are a lot of games against the upper echelon of the SEC still to come for Kentucky. They will have plenty of opportunities to move much higher in the top 25.

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Arkansas 23-3 775 (31) –
2 Clemson 24-3 726 +1
3 Texas A&M 25-3 711 +1
4 Tennessee 24-5 659 +1
5 Oregon State 21-4 619 -3
6 Vanderbilt 23-6 588 +3
7 North Carolina 25-4 540 +4
8 Dallas Baptist 23-4 533 +2
9 Florida 16-11 515 -3
10 Duke 20-8 488 +3
11 Virginia 22-6 417 -3
12 Florida State 22-4 392 +5
13 East Carolina 20-6 373 +3
14 Alabama 21-7 359 +4
15 Virginia Tech 21-5 355 –
16 Kentucky 24-4 319 +5
17 UC Irvine 22-3 307 +2
18 LSU 20-9 229 -11
19 South Carolina 21-7 218 -5
20 NC State 18-7 167 +2
21 Coastal Carolina 20-7 152 -1
22 Wake Forest 17-10 151 -10
23 Nebraska 20-5 88 +7
24 Georgia 22-6 82 –
25 TCU 20-7 61 –

Schools Dropped Out:

No. 23 Mississippi State

Others Receiving Votes:

Mississippi State 52; UCF 45; Indiana State 36; Oregon 22; Texas 17; Texas Tech 11; Oklahoma State 10; Kansas State 10; Campbell 9; Lamar 8; UC Santa Barbara 6; Louisiana 6; Northeastern 5; Creighton 5; Miami (FL) 4; St. John’s 3; Louisiana Tech 2

Clemson jumps to No. 2 in new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

NCAA Baseball: The Clemson Tigers moved up one spot to No. 2 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, April 1.

Clemson moved up one spot to No. 2 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, April 1. It’s the Tigers’ highest ranking in the coaches poll this season.

Coach Erik Bakich’s team is 24-3 overall and went 2-1 last week after taking two of three games from Miami in ACC play.

The Tigers also moved up one spot to No. 2 in the new D1Baseball Top 25 rankings, in addition to the team’s No. 2 ranking in Baseball America’s Top 25.

Arkansas (23-3) remained at No. 1 after sweeping reigning national champion LSU in a three-game series over the weekend.

With Clemson at No. 2, Texas A&M (No. 3, 25-3), Tennessee (No. 4, 24-5), and Oregon State (No. 5, 21-4) rounded out the top five.

Other ACC schools ranked in this week’s coaches poll are No. 7 North Carolina and No. 9 Duke. Virginia fell three spots from last week to land at No. 11. Florida State moved up five spots to No. 12, and Virginia Tech stayed at No. 15.

NC State (No. 20) and Wake Forest (No. 22) also placed in the top 25. Wake Forest fell 10 spots in the coaches poll after being swept by North Carolina in Winston-Salem.

Clemson is scheduled to face SC Upstate in midweek action Tuesday in Greenville. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT.

Duke baseball drops below North Carolina, Wake Forest in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

After two straight series losses in conference play, the Blue Devils slipped down to the fifth-highest ACC team in the coaches poll.

Duke baseball slipped out of the consensus top 10 after a weekend series loss to NC State, the Blue Devils’ second straight series dropped in conference play. The USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll dropped Duke farther than most, however.

The ranking, released on Monday, had Duke fall four spots to 13th after losing four out of its last seven games. The Wolfpack took the first two games from them on the road after Clemson stunned them with Saturday and Sunday victories on their home diamond the weekend before.

The Blue Devils even dropped below North Carolina, who rose to 11th at 21-4 on the season, and Wake Forest in 12th. The Blue Devils beat the Demon Deacons in a series just two weeks ago, and Wake Forest has a 16-7 record to Duke’s 17-7, but the Blue Devils are a spot behind them.

Just like the D1Baseball poll, also released on Monday, Arkansas remained in first with Oregon State and Clemson in the next two spots. Texas A&M, Tennessee, Florida, and LSU made a run of SEC teams in the next four spots before Virginia dropped in at eighth.

Vanderbilt and Dallas Baptist rounded out the top 10.

Clemson jumps to No. 3 in new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

Clemson Baseball: The Clemson Tigers moved up two spots to No. 3 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, March 25.

Clemson moved up two spots to No. 3 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, March 25.

Coach Erik Bakich’s team is 22-2 overall and went 5-0 last week after sweeping previously unbeaten Florida State at Doug Kingsmore Stadium over the weekend. It’s the Tigers’ highest ranking this season in the coaches poll.

Arkansas (19-3) remained No. 1 after winning two of three in its SEC series at Auburn. Oregon State (21-2) stayed at No. 2 after a 4-0 week.

With Clemson at No. 3, Texas A&M (21-3) and Tennessee (21-4) rounded out the top five.

Florida moved up two spots to No. 6 after taking two of three from reigning national champion LSU in Baton Rouge over the weekend. LSU dropped three spots in the coaches poll to No. 7.

No. 8 Virginia, Vanderbilt, and Dallas Baptist rounded out the top 10.

South Carolina moved back into the Top 25 with a three-game sweep of Vanderbilt over the weekend. The Gamecocks are at No. 14 in the new coaches poll.

In the ACC, Florida State fell five spots to No. 17 after being swept by Clemson. North Carolina moved up six spots to No. 11, followed by Wake Forest at No. 12 and Duke at No. 13. Virginia Tech (No. 15) and NC State (No. 22) were also ranked.

In other rankings released Monday, Clemson moved to No. 2 in the latest Baseball America Top 25 rankings and are No. 3 in the new D1Baseball rankings.

The Tigers will host No. 20 Coastal Carolina (18-6) Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in midweek action. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

Kentucky softball just misses Top 25 in latest USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll

The Kentucky softball team is just outside the Top 25 in the newest USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll

The Kentucky Wildcats softball team is coming off a very good weekend where they went 4 – 1 in the John Cropp Classic. They won three of the four games in blowout fashion, and scored at least six runs in all five games.

The Cats now stand at 19 – 8 on the season, including a couple of wins against ranked teams. They’re 0 – 3 against SEC opponents, however, after being swept by LSU.

They’re mostly good play has them currently just outside the top 25 in the latest USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll. The 25th place team received 59 points, while Kentucky sits with 25.

The SEC is well represented in the poll, with 11 teams currently in the top 25. As the Wildcats enter SEC play, they’ll have a chance to beat some of those ranked conference foes and climb up the top 25 themselves.

Kentucky plays Marshall on Wednesday, then plays a weekend series with the Florida Gators on the road in Gainsville.

Here is the full Top 25 rankings:

Rank Team Record Points Previous
1 Oklahoma (26) 27-1 794 1
2 LSU (6) 24-1 771 2
3 Texas 24-3 727 3
4 Oklahoma State 24-3 692 4
5 Georgia 23-4 666 5
6 Duke 22-2 637 6
7 Tennessee 22-4 610 8
8 Washington 20-4 584 7
9 Stanford 22-5 545 9
10 Florida 25-4 512 10
11 Clemson 21-6 461 12
12 Texas A&M 25-3 432 13
13 Alabama 22-5 392 14
14 UCLA 17-6 371 15
15 Missouri 22-6 369 11
16 Virginia Tech 21-4-1 306 18
17 Florida State 18-8 280 16
18 Arkansas 22-6 245 20
19 California 21-7 193 17
20 Mississippi State 21-6 190 21
21 Arizona 20-7-1 130 22
22 Baylor 16-8 101 19
23 South Carolina 21-7 78 23
24 Boston University 20-3 66 24
25 Auburn 14-6-1 59 25

Others receiving votes:

Oregon (55), Louisiana (43), Kansas (40), Kentucky (25), Texas State (19), Miami (6), Grand Canyon (1).