BYU is Near-Unanimous No. 1 in MCLA Division I Coaches Poll

ATLANTA — With a clean sweep of the Colorado schools last weekend, Brigham Young is the near-unanimous top team in the MCLA Division I New Balance Weekly Coaches Poll, which was released Wednesday.

The Cougars (12-0), who have already wrapped up the top seed in the upcoming RMLC tournament, only have No. 11 Utah Valley (6-4) remaining on the regular-season schedule. BYU was awarded 26 of the 27 first-place votes.

Texas (13-0) climbed a spot in the polls this week into the second chair – the highest-ever ranking for a Lone Star Alliance (LSA) program. The Longhorns are the top seed out of the LSA South in the conference tourney.

Virginia Tech (12-2), which was stunned by No. 10 Tennessee (10-1) in the regular-season finale, drops one spot to third. The Hokies did manage to snag the remaining first-place vote. Tech will host Clemson in the first round of the ALC tourney.

Holding steady in the No. 4 slot is Chapman (11-2). After dispatching UCLA, the Panthers will close the season with an SLC slugfest with No. 6 San Diego State (12-1) to determine the top seed in the league playoff.

Fresh off its win over No. 19 James Madison (9-2), Liberty (10-4) rounds out the Top 5. The Flames receive a bye into the semifinals of the ALC tournament.

There were no new additions to the poll this week.

MCLA DIVISION I
COACHES POLL

1. Brigham Young, 674 points (26 first-place votes)
2. Texas, 643
3. Virginia Tech, 617 (1)
4. Chapman, 594
5. Liberty, 557
6. San Diego State, 514
7. UC Santa Barbara, 487
8. Georgia Tech, 457
9. Colorado, 425
10. Tennessee, 410
11. Utah Valley, 401
12. South Carolina, 377
13. Arizona State, 365
14. California, 343
15. Florida State, 292
16. Northeastern, 251
17. Simon Fraser, 227
18. Colorado State, 207
19. James Madison, 190
20. Florida, 187
21. Auburn, 130
22. Oregon, 125
23. Cal Poly, 123
24. Arizona, 70
25. Indiana, 66

Others receiving votes: Clemson (19), Michigan State (10), Boise State (5), Georgia (4), Sonoma State (2), West Virginia (2), Baylor (1).