Coaches Poll Process

The USCAA Coaches Poll was instituted in 2008 as a way to aid the selection process for USCAA National Championships.  A group of nearly a dozen coaches/athletic directors laid the groundwork for the beginning of coaches’ polls. 

As proposed by the Selections/Ratings Committee, USCAA coaches poll includes 6-12 regionally selected and experienced coaches, SID’s, and Athletic Directors, who vote based on the following criteria:

• Win/Loss Record
• Strength of Schedule
• USCAA Power Rankings
• Head to head contests between USCAA opponents
• Common opponents
• Score differentials

The only role the national office collectively has in the poll is gathering the votes and distributing the results to the membership. Additionally, the national office will conduct a conference call with the coaches poll members at midseason and prior to the final week of the coaches poll to allow the committee members to share knowledge and insights about the teams being ranked. 

Coaches Poll Start Times

The USCAA will begin setting a standardized number of weeks for fall, winter, and spring coaches polls with an emphasis on pushing back the first poll and shortening its overall length. This policy is being implemented to prevent the poll from starting prior to all teams beginning play and reporting their results/statistics. The number of weeks that polls will run by season is listed below.

Fall: Five weeks

Winter: Twelve weeks (sometimes longer, depending on tournament dates)

Spring: Five weeks 

Championship Participants

The last week of the coaches poll serves the purpose of selecting participants for USCAA championship events. During the final week of the poll the USCAA will collect and calculate the final votes and then prepare bid selection videos to announce tournament participants. The date and time of these announcements will be communicated seasonally.