Cowboys Gain Ground in GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches Poll

NORMAN, Okla. ? Georgia garnered 12 of 20 first-place votes to hold off Oklahoma State and its seven first-place nods by a mere four points in the latest GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches Poll. Florida, UCLA - the owner of the last top vote - and Georgia Tech followed to make up the top five.

The sixth through ninth positions - UNLV, Brigham Young, Arizona State and Georgia State - remained unchanged. Baylor cracked the top 10 by switching places with East Tennessee State while Texas A&M and Duke held on to the 12th and 13th slots, respectively. Coastal Carolina flew up seven spots to No. 14 - just ahead of Clemson - which stayed at 15th.

Texas Tech made a three-rung jump to No. 16, dropping North Carolina down a slot to 17th. Wake Forest rose four spot of its own to No. 18 while Tulsa, Tennessee Minnesota, San Diego State, Kentucky, South Carolina and Southern California rounded out the poll.

Alabama, Northwestern and Pepperdine dropped from the rankings.

The GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches Poll is voted on by a panel of head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the Golf Coaches Association of America. The next GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches Poll will be released April 27.