Despite remaining undefeated on the season, South Carolina saw three first-place votes shaved off last week’s total and is just six points ahead of No. 2 Cal in the MCLA Division I New Balance Weekly Coaches Poll for the period ending Feb. 25.
The Gamecocks (7-0) rallied to defeat No. 7 Florida State (3-1) to stay perfect, but Cal (5-0) grabbed six extra first-place votes this week after downing No. 4 Chapman (3-1). The Bears trailed 14 points to South Carolina last week.
Cal Poly (6-0) jumps up two spots to grab the third chair while holding onto their one first-place ballot.
Chapman fell one spot from the previous week while Liberty (3-0) moved up one spot to No. 5.
Arizona (1-3) and Arizona State (0-5) departed the poll this week and were replaced by No. 22 Florida (5-2) and No. 24 Auburn (4-3).
In Division II, despite an idle week, Minn.-Duluth strengthened its top spot in the MCLA Division II New Balance Weekly Coaches Poll for the period ending Feb. 25.
The Bulldogs (3-0) snagged 19 of the 22 first-place votes submitted this week, moving 22 points clear of the second spot. Duluth won’t return to action until the weekend of March 7 when the square off with three ranked teams in Nashville.
Preseason No. 1 and defending national champion St. Thomas (2-1) sits tight at No. 2 while collecting a pair of first-place votes. The Tommies will also see its next action in Nashville.
Dayton (0-0) remains at No. 3 with one first-place vote and will finally get their season cooking this weekend when they head to Missouri for three games.
North Dakota (1-0) and College of Idaho (0-0) round out the top five spots.
MCLA New Balance Coaches Polls: Week 2
Division I
RANK | TEAM | POINTS | 1st VOTES |
1 | South Carolina | 565 | 14 |
2 | California | 559 | 8 |
3 | Cal Poly | 523 | 1 |
4 | Chapman | 504 | |
5 | Liberty | 482 | |
6 | Georgia Tech | 435 | |
7 | Florida State | 428 | |
8 | Colorado | 363 | |
9 | Brigham Young | 357 | |
10 | Concordia-Irvine | 346 | |
11 | USC | 331 | |
12 | New Hampshire | 294 | |
13 | Michigan State | 274 | |
14 | Santa Clara | 269 | |
15 | Connecticut | 265 | |
16 | Virginia Tech | 234 | |
17 | Utah Valley | 226 | |
18 | Dominican | 209 | |
19 | Boston College | 173 | |
20 | Clemson | 160 | |
21 | Oregon | 152 | |
22 | Florida | 57 | |
23 | Minnesota | 52 | |
24 | Auburn | 46 | |
25 | Grand Canyon | 30 |
Others receiving votes for the 2020 MCLA Coaches Poll for Week 2: Texas (26), Southern Methodist (24), Arizona (17), Texas A&M (13), Pittsburgh (12), Tennessee (12), Northeastern (9), San Diego State (7), Colorado State (6), Arizona State (4), Simon Fraser (4), UC Santa Barbara (3), Stanford (2), Temple
Division II
RANK | TEAM | POINTS | 1st VOTES |
1 | Minn.-Duluth | 544 | 19 |
2 | St. Thomas | 522 | 2 |
3 | Dayton | 496 | 1 |
4 | North Dakota State | 489 | |
5 | College of Idaho | 461 | |
6 | Grand Valley State | 440 | |
7 | St. John’s | 405 | |
8 | Kennesaw State | 395 | |
9 | Northern Arizona | 330 | |
10 | Montana | 329 | |
11 | UC Davis | 311 | |
12 | Florida Gulf Coast | 263 | |
13 | Montana State | 242 | |
14 | Utah State | 241 | |
15 | North Florida | 224 | |
16 | Missouri State | 193 | |
17 | UC San Diego | 182 | |
18 | Bridgewater State | 174 | |
19 | Loyola Marymount | 128 | |
20 | Cal State San Marcos | 127 | |
21 | Central Conn. State | 108 | |
22 | Rhode Island | 107 | |
23 | UNC-Charlotte | 102 | |
24 | MSU Denver | 72 | |
25 | Florida Atlantic | 62 |
Others receiving votes for the 2020 MCLA Coaches Poll for Week 2: San Diego (56), College of Charleston (41), Rice (26), Western Oregon (18), Wake Forest (15), Colorado Denver (13), UC Irvine (12), Stonehill (7), Washington-Mo. (6), Oklahoma State (3), Saint Mary’s (3), Claremont (2), Sierra Nevada (1).
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