As we wait for the official preseason coaches poll for 2024 on Road to Nationals and all the controversy it will surely bring, we once again conducted our own to determine team rankings for the upcoming season in a similar vein to the AP Top 25 for college football.
Our methodology is simple. Each editor that wanted to participate submitted their top 36 teams for the 2024 season. Lists were submitted privately and no discussion was allowed beforehand to be able to produce as unbiased and as accurate a ranking as possible. We then assigned a numerical value to each place, with each editor’s first-place team earning 36 points, second place taking 35 points and so on through No. 36. Each team’s points were then added up to determine the overall order.
The top 36, the point totals, and the amount of first-place votes where applicable can be found below, as well as additional teams that earned points but did not make the top 36.
Does your order match up with ours? Where would you make changes? Let us know your top 36 in the comments or on social media! Finally, stay tuned for the announcement of the official 2024 preseason coaches poll on Road to Nationals, which should be soon.
Finally, if you’re interested in the reasoning behind some of our decisions, stay tuned for our roundtable next week where we’ll share the thought process behind some of our choices.
| Team | Total Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Oklahoma | 611; 16 first-place votes |
| 2. LSU | 580; 1 first-place vote |
| 3. Florida | 577 |
| 4. Utah | 555 |
| 5. UCLA | 529 |
| 6. California | 518 |
| 7. Alabama | 510 |
| 8. Michigan | 497 |
| 9. Michigan State | 485 |
| 10. Kentucky | 477 |
| 11. Denver | 429 |
| 12. Missouri | 404 |
| 13. Oregon State | 394 |
| 14. Ohio State | 370 |
| 15. Georgia | 367 |
| 16. Auburn | 350 |
| 17. Arizona State | 347 |
| 18. Arkansas | 316 |
| 19. Stanford | 315 |
| 20. Minnesota | 311 |
| 21. Washington | 282 |
| 22. Iowa | 230 |
| 23. Arizona | 217 |
| 24. Illinois | 213 |
| 25. Maryland | 192 |
| 26. Penn State | 181 |
| 27. Nebraska | 177 |
| 28. Southern Utah | 130 |
| 29. BYU | 114 |
| 30. Boise State | 112 |
| 31. Western Michigan | 111 |
| 32. N.C. State | 105 |
| 33. North Carolina | 78 |
| 34. Towson | 68 |
| 35. Clemson | 59 |
| 36. West Virginia | 56 |
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Votes cast by Mary Emma Brambilla, Claire Billman, Mariah Dawson, Brandis Heffner, Claire Harmon, Emma Hammerstrom, Tara Graeve, Jenna King, Emily Lockard, Emily Minehart, Julianna Roland, Naomi Stephenson, Alyssa Van Auker, Savanna Whitten, Katherine Weaver, Elizabeth Grimsley, and Talitha Ilacqua
Florida seems to be high considering all that was lost and lack of proof that the coaching staff can win big with previous talented teams. I think Utah could struggle somewhat with the losses and with everything that has happened. Cal, Bama and UK seem to be loaded from rosters last year and what they are bringing in, so they could be switched around between 3-6.
1. Oklahoma
2. LSU
3. Cal
4. Alabama
5. Kentucky
6. Michigan St
7. Utah
8. UCLA
9. Florida
10. Missouri
Florida has a strong freshman class coming in.
Plus McCusker, Hurd, Lazzari were all back from injury. However, McCusker is now out for the season according to her Instagram post, which is an issue.
But Florida has a majorly good freshman class, likely one of the best in the country.
The missing routines from Thomas, DiCello, and McCusker can be made up by Arana, Bluffstone, Disidore, Drasler, Ferris, and Pilgrim.
No one can replace Thomas, but Ferris, Pilgrim, and Disidore have the capacity and talent to be right in the 9.9+ scoring range on multiple events. Ferris has the ability to replace DiCello’s scores in the AA at the very least.
3rd isn’t really that far of a cry. They just have to figure out how to increase event totals without relying on a Thomas 9.950-10.0 on each event each week.
But realistically, there is such depth in the NCAA ranks that even if you are consistently ranked in the top echelon of teams, it doesn’t make you invincible.
I think the rankings are hard because we don’t even have the preview meets to base performance on. I will say I think Bama should not be slept on and think Ohio State will continue to inch up. Also- Utah still has a lot of talent on the roster that is well distributed across events so I think the top 4 placement is merited.
I am a little baffled by UGA at 15. They were actually the 16th best score night one of regionals and this team will have more talent and more healthy bodies. Stanford and Arkansas were in that 13-15 range by night one scores and look no weaker so I’m a little surprised to not see them inside the top 16.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the ACC schools all landed in the top 36 and if a couple snuck into the 20s- right now Pitt is the only not and I think they might have the best coach of the bunch in time. I expect Clemson to have as strong of an initial showing as any year 1 squad has had given the number of experienced transfers and their recruits.