Photo Credit: Jeffrey Camarati/UNC Athletics
2021 IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll – April 26, 2021
North Carolina (15-0) solidified their stranglehold on the top spot in the Division I Coaches Poll with all 25 first place votes this week, after fending off Duke (9-6) for a 12-11 win in their final regular season game. Northwestern (11-0), Syracuse (12-2), Boston College (12-2) , and Notre Dame (8-5) sat tight to comprise the top five. In the back half of the top ten, Stony Brook (10-2) remained ranked sixth, Duke, Florida (13-2), and Loyola (9-2) each moved up one spot and Drexel (12-1) jumped two spots to claim the final spot. The only new team in this week’s poll is Virginia Tech (5-10) who made its return to the poll after posting a 20-15 win over Virginia (8-7).
The ACC tournament starts on Wednesday and features the following matchups: #1 North Carolina vs #18 Louisville, #5 Notre Dame vs #7 Duke, #3 Syracuse vs #24 Virginia Tech, and #4 Boston College vs #11 Virginia. On Thursday, the Big Ten tournament opens with #16 Rutgers vs #23 Ohio State, and Johns Hopkins (T-13) vs #20 Penn State. The A-10 Championship game on Sunday could include #22 Massachusetts or #19 Richmond, and if the fans are lucky, it will be a head to head matchup with the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid on the line.
Rank |
Institution |
Points |
FPV |
Record |
Last Poll |
1 |
North Carolina |
625 |
25 |
15-0 |
1 |
2 |
Northwestern |
596 |
0 |
11-0 |
2 |
3 |
Syracuse |
576 |
0 |
12-2 |
3 |
4 |
Boston College |
553 |
0 |
12-2 |
4 |
5 |
Notre Dame |
511 |
0 |
8-5 |
5 |
6 |
Stony Brook |
493 |
0 |
10-2 |
6 |
7 |
Duke |
474 |
0 |
9-6 |
8 |
8 |
Florida |
449 |
0 |
13-2 |
9 |
9 |
Loyola Maryland |
417 |
0 |
9-2 |
10 |
10 |
Drexel |
397 |
0 |
12-1 |
12 |
11 |
Virginia |
328 |
0 |
8-7 |
7 |
12 |
Stanford |
322 |
0 |
9-0 |
13 |
T-13 |
Johns Hopkins |
302 |
0 |
7-5 |
15 |
T-13 |
Maryland |
302 |
0 |
7-5 |
14 |
15 |
Denver |
270 |
0 |
12-1 |
17 |
16 |
Rutgers |
229 |
0 |
5-7 |
16 |
17 |
Jacksonville |
217 |
0 |
7-1 |
11 |
18 |
Louisville |
178 |
0 |
5-10 |
19 |
19 |
Richmond |
157 |
0 |
10-1 |
21 |
20 |
Penn State |
147 |
0 |
4-8 |
18 |
21 |
James Madison |
93 |
0 |
9-4 |
25 |
22 |
Massachusetts |
85 |
0 |
13-2 |
24 |
23 |
Ohio State |
81 |
0 |
4-8 |
22 |
24 |
Virginia Tech |
54 |
0 |
5-10 |
NR |
25 |
Towson |
53 |
0 |
8-6 |
20 |
The IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll is published on Mondays throughout the regular season.