3/29 Oracle/ITA Women's Rankings Release - Top 7 Profiles

California stays at No. 1 for the fourth week in a row with its margin over No. 2 Ohio State decreasing slightly from 8.81 to 7.72.  North Carolina and Georgia swapped spots yet again at No. 3 and No. 4 while Vanderbilt holds at No. 5 although the Commodores are nipping at the heels of Georgia.

Florida comes up one spot to No. 6, Miami falls one spot to No. 7, South Carolina holds at No. 8 despite its loss to Florida, Pepperdine rises two spots to No. 9 and Duke holds firm at No. 10.

Florida State was the biggest climber of the week after going from unranked to No. 57 while Baylor also made a big move up from No. 66 to No. 50 after beating Northwestern.

DePaul took the biggest tumble dropping 15 spots from No. 57 to No. 72 after its previous ranked wins over Minnesota and Indiana were downgraded due to MN dropping 12 spots and IU dropping 7 spots.

The following teams moved up at least 7 spots versus the last rankings - movement in ( ):
#20 UCLA (+12)
#21 Tulsa (+7)
#50 Baylor (+16)
#52 UNLV (+12)
#53 Illinois (+15)
#57 Florida State (at least +19)
#67 Long Beach State (at least +9)

The following teams dropped down at least 7 spots versus the last rankings (still ranked):
#25 Texas A&M (-8)
#26 Arizona State (-7)
#61 Washington (-9)
#62 Washington State (-7)
#64 Rice (-10)
#70 Minnesota (-8)
#71 Missouri (-12)
#72 DePaul (-15)
#74 Utah (-9)

These 4 teams entered the rankings after being unranked and the reason why they moved up:
#57 Florida State - defeated #55 Boston College plus a past win over Old Dominion was upgraded after the Monarchs jumped 10 spots the previous week.
#67 Long Beach State - picked up a ranked win over Dartmouth plus a win over Hawaii who was ranked in the 96-105 bucket.
#73 North Texas - was idle last week however past wins over Penn and Louisiana Tech were upgraded when Penn came up 8 spots and LA Tech entered the rankings this past week.
#75 Nebraska - picked up a ranked win over Minnesota

These 4 teams dropped out of the rankings with last week's rankings in ( ):
Arizona (71) - beat Sacramento State and UAB last week however previous ranked wins over San Diego and San Jose State were downgraded when both dropped out of the rankings last week. Arizona will probably re-enter the rankings next week with Long Beach State coming in this week.
Purdue (72) - lost to Michigan and unranked Michigan State
Xavier (73) - was idle last week however its ranked win over Indiana was downgraded when IU dropped 7 spots in the rankings.
Santa Clara (75) - lost to unranked St. Mary's plus a previous loss to San Diego hurt more when USD dropped out of the rankings

Ranking Notes: My projections had most of the teams in the right order however my point totals were off on many. I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out what the problem was and then I noticed the teams that were off all had a couple of common opponents. I was able to figure out that there was a change in the rankings after they were published last week but the new updated rankings weren't known to everyone. I talked to the the ITA this morning and they confirmed there was an additional result that was keyed into their system in the roughly 60 second window between when the rankings were run and when they were finalized. The result impacted the rankings of 13 different teams but the issue has now been correct and the 3/22 rankings were republished to reflect those changes which I've listed below.

Fresno State went from #38 to #34
Texas from #34 to #35
Oregon from #35 to #36
Northwestern from #36 to #37
William & Mary from #37 to #38
UC Santa Barbara from #69 to unranked
Louisiana Tech from #70 to #69
Arizona from #71 to #70
Purdue from #72 to #71
Xavier from #73 to #72
Winthrop from #74 to #73
Santa Clara from #75 to #74
Brown from unranked to #75


Here is the ITA's release which breaks it down by conference affiliation.

Below I'll breakdown the Top 7 looking at the 7 best wins that were used in the rankings this week along with other quality ranked wins. I also listed the point totals gained from the best wins and losses to come up with the computer score.  

California (15-0) is No. 1 for the fourth week in a row after picking up wins over Utah and Colorado.  

• 7 Best Wins (556.6): #2 Ohio State, #3 North Carolina, #7 Florida, #11 Pepperdine, #12 Virginia, at #19 Arizona State, at #29 USC 
• Other Quality Wins: at #32 UCLA, #52 Washington, #65 Utah, at #70 Arizona
• Losses (7.0): None
• Computer Score:  556.6/7.0 = 79.51 (was 83.62)
• What's Coming Up: #38 Oregon (4/1), #18 Stanford (4/3), at #62 Washington State (4/8), at #61 Washington (4/9)
• Comments: Cal continued to roll along but it faces its biggest test since the National Indoors when Stanford comes to Berkeley for the Big Slam. 

Ohio State (17-2) remains at No. 2 after taking last week off. 

• 7 Best Wins (524.1): #5 Vanderbilt (2X), at #9 Michigan, #11 Pepperdine, #19 Arizona State, #22 Georgia Tech, at #30 TCU
• Other Quality Wins: #34 Fresno State, #58 Tennessee, #62 Minnesota, at #66 Baylor
• Losses (7.3): #1 California, at #6 Miami FL
• Computer Score:  524.1/7.3 = 71.79 (was 74.81)
• What's Coming Up: at Rutgers (4/2), at Maryland (4/3), Iowa (4/9), #75 Nebraska (4/10)
• Comments: The Buckeyes are back at this week facing a pair of unranked conference opponents. It'll be smooth sailing until the Big Ten tournament. 

North Carolina (20-2) moves up one spot from No. 4 to No. 3 after winning at Syracuse and beating Notre Dame at home. The Tar Heels also beat Duke on Tuesday although that win won't factor in until next week. 

• 7 Best Wins (521.3): #3 Georgia, #6 Miami, at #12 Virginia, #14 Wake Forest, #15 LSU, #17 Texas A&M, #28 Tulsa
• Other Quality Wins: #10 Duke, at #41 Syracuse, #42 Notre Dame, #48 Alabama, Florida State
• Losses (7.3): #1 California, at #9 Michigan
• Computer Score:  521.3/7.3 = 71.41 (was 70.43)
• What's Coming Up:  Louisville (4/2), #42 NC State (4/6), at #31 Virginia Tech (4/8), #55 Boston College (4/10)
• Comments: The Tar Heels missed out on being No. 2 but just .38 points and with the win over Duke coming into play next week I'd expect to see UNC move up to No. 2.

Georgia (13-2) drops down one spot from No. 3 to No. 4 after winning at Kentucky but falling at Vanderbilt. Six of Georgia's best wins from the previous week dropped last week so that hurt its point total as well

• 7 Best Wins (480.4): #9 Michigan, #12 Virginia, #13 Texas Tech, #16 Auburn, at #22 Georgia Tech, at #23 Kentucky, at #27 Mississippi State
• Other Quality Wins: #25 Clemson,  at #39 Ole Miss. #48 Alabama, #58 Tennessee
• Losses (7.2): #4 North Carolina, #5 Vanderbilt
• Computer Score: 480.4/7.2 = 66.72 (was 72.51)
• What's Coming Up: #24 Arkansas (3/31), #71 Missouri (4/2), at #15 LSU (4/8), at #25 Texas A&M (4/10)
• Comments: The Dawgs continue SEC play this weekend with both Arkansas and Missouri coming to Athens. Arkansas will give them a tougher challenge than Missouri but Georgia should win both comfortably. 

Vanderbilt (12-4) stays at No. 5 but is less than 1 point behind No. 4 Georgia after defeating both Georgia and Tennessee last weekend.

• 7 Best Wins (501): #3 Georgia, #10 Duke, #12 Virginia,  #15 LSU, #17 Texas A&M, #20 Stanford, #23 Kentucky
• Other Quality Wins: #31 Denver, at #37 Northwestern, #58 Tennessee, at #66 Baylor, #75 Brown
• Losses (7.6): #2 Ohio State (2X), #7 Florida, #8 South Carolina, 
• Computer Score: 501/7.6 = 65.92 (was 61.64)
• What's Coming Up: at #28 Mississippi State (3/31), at #36 Ole Miss (4/2), at #71 Missouri (4/8), at #24 Arkansas (4/10)
• Comments: The Commodores hit the road for the next two weeks with a trip to Mississippi this weekend. 

Florida (12-2) rises one spot from No. 7 to No. 6 after going on the road to Columbia, South Carolina, and defeating No. 8 South Carolina. 

• 7 Best Wins (466.7): #5 Vanderbilt, at #8 South Carolina, at #27 Mississippi State, #23 Kentucky, #25 Clemson, #26 Arkansas, #29 USC
• Other Quality Wins: at #39 Ole Miss, #56 South Florida, #59 Missouri, #66 Baylor, at Florida State
• Losses (7.5): at #1 Cal, at #20 Stanford
• Computer Score:  466.7/7.5 = 62.23 (was 56.69)
• What's Coming Up: #15 LSU (3/31), #17 Texas A&M (4/2), at #48 Alabama (4/8), at #16 Auburn  (4/10) 
• Comments: The Gators have won seven in a row but they'll have to keep the hammer down with LSU and Texas A&M coming to town this weekend. I think Florida's win streak will be at 11 when they head to Georgia on 4/15 with that match playing a big role in determining the regular season SEC Champion. 

Miami (12-4) drops one spot from No. 6 to No. 7 despite beating both Virginia and Boston College. The reason for the drop was due to Florida picking up a top 10 win on the road. 

• 7 Best Wins (456): #2 Ohio State, #12 Virginia, at #16 Auburn, #18 Oklahoma State, #22 Georgia Tech, #33 Virginia Tech,  #40 Columbia
• Other Quality Wins: #42 Notre Dame, #53 Boston College, at Florida State
• Losses (7.8): #4 North Carolina, #9 Michigan, #10 Duke, #13 Texas Tech
• Computer Score:  456/7.8 = 58.46 (was 58.63)
• What's Coming Up:  at #29 Clemson (4/2), at #19 Wake Forest (4/8), at #42 NC Sate (4/9), #40 Syracuse (4/15), Louisville (4/17)
• Comments: The Canes have played six of its last seven matches at home which means it's time for a multi-match road trip. This weekend they go to Clemson and the following weekend its a trip to North Carolina to face Wake Forest and NC State.

3/29 Oracle/ITA Women's Rankings

Rank	Avg	School	Previous Rank
1	79.51	California	1
2	71.79	Ohio State University	2
3	71.41	North Carolina	4
4	66.72	University of Georgia	3
5	65.92	Vanderbilt University	5
6	62.23	University of Florida	7
7	58.46	University of Miami (Florida)	6
8	55.14	University of South Carolina	8
9	55.07	Pepperdine	11
10	54.92	Duke University	10
11	48.83	University of Michigan	9
12	45.07	University of Virginia	12
13	43.9	Texas Tech University	13
14	43.37	Auburn University	16
15	40.25	LSU	15
16	37.49	Georgia Tech	22
17	36.07	Oklahoma State University	18
18	35.79	Stanford	20
19	33.39	Wake Forest University	14
20	32.59	UCLA	32
21	31.82	University of Tulsa	28
22	31.74	Wichita State University	21
23	31.63	University of Kentucky	23
24	31.55	University of Arkansas	26
25	31.28	Texas A&M University	17
26	29.16	Arizona State University	19
27	27.95	University of Southern California	29
28	27.31	Mississippi State University	27
29	26.73	Clemson University	25
30	25.07	University of Kansas	24
31	23.04	Virginia Tech	33
32	20.84	College of William and Mary	37
33	20.47	University of Denver	31
34	20.45	University of Texas at Austin	34
35	20.28	TCU	30
36	20.02	University of Mississippi	39
37	18.65	Columbia University	40
38	17.52	University of Oregon	35
39	17.2	Fresno State	38
40	16.57	Syracuse University	41
41	15.88	Northwestern University	36
42	15.73	North Carolina State	43
43	15.48	University of South Alabama	45
44	13.46	University of Notre Dame	42
45	12.38	University of New Mexico	44
46	12.24	Florida International University (FIU)	49
47	11.94	Georgia State University	47
48	11.67	University of Texas at Arlington	50
49	11.63	Dartmouth College	46
50	11.62	Baylor University	66
51	11.26	University of Alabama	48
52	10.83	UNLV	64
53	10.15	University of Illinois	68
54	10.02	Harvard University	51
55	10.02	Boston College	53
56	9.9	University of South Florida	56
57	9.85	Florida State University	NR
58	9.85	Old Dominion University	61
59	9.75	Princeton University	60
60	9.46	Indiana University-Bloomington	63
61	9.42	University of Washington	52
62	8.27	Washington State University	55
63	8.2	University of Tennessee	58
64	8.14	Rice University	54
65	8.13	UC Santa Barbara	69
66	8.05	Louisiana Tech University	70
67	8.04	Long Beach State University	NR
68	8.02	Winthrop University	74
69	7.76	University of Pennsylvania	67
70	7.7	University of Minnesota	62
71	7.67	Univ. of Missouri, Columbia	59
72	7.22	DePaul University	57
73	7.13	University of North Texas	NR
74	6.8	University of Utah	65
75	6.75	University of Nebraska	NR