Nov. 17, 2006

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men's golf team was ranked 14th in the nation in the fall's final Golf Coaches Association of America/Bridgestone Coaches Poll, which was released this week by the GCAA.

Alabama was No. 1 for the second-straight poll to end the fall as the top-ranked team. The Crimson Tied earned 11 first-place votes.

The second and third spots remained unchanged as Florida tabbed four first-place votes to stay at No. 2 and Oklahoma State carded three first-place nods. Stanford moved up three spots to fourth and had one first-place vote. Georgia fell one rung to fifth. UCLA picked up the final first-place ballot to rank sixth where it was tied with rival USC. Clemson, Coastal Carolina and Texas A&M completed the top 10.

Lamar jumped up four places to No. 11 and is followed by Tennessee, North Carolina, UNLV and East Tennessee State. Georgia Tech checked in at No. 16 - up one place from the last ranking. BYU made the biggest move in the poll, climbing five spots to No. 17. Louisville dropped one spot to No. 18, while Georgia State stayed at 19th. Arizona State had the biggest drop, falling from 13th to No. 20.

Duke came in at No. 21. Texas, Tulsa and Northwestern all made its first appearance in the rankings this season at spots 22, 24 and 25, respectively. Wake Forest fell two rungs to No. 23.

Kentucky, Minnesota and TCU fell from the top 25.

The GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches Poll is voted on by a panel of head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the GCAA.

UNLV will open the spring season on Jan. 29 at the PING Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz.

GCAA/BRIDGESTONE DIVISION I COACHES POLLRank    University (First-Place)            Points  Prev.1       Alabama (11)                478     12       Florida (4)             467     23       Oklahoma State (3)          444     34       Stanford (1)                439     75       Georgia             405     4T6      Southern California         359     9T6      UCLA (1)                359     58       Clemson             343     69       Coastal Carolina            332     810      Texas A&M               303     1211      Lamar                   276     1512      Tennessee               245     1013      North Carolina                          221     1114      UNLV                    199     1615      East Tennessee State                198     1416      Georgia Tech                167     T1717      Brigham Young               162     2218      Louisville              150     T1719      Georgia State           146     1920      Arizona State           130     1321      Duke                    126     2022      Texas                   121     NR23      Wake Forest             96      2124      Tulsa                   83      NR25      Northwestern                38      NR

Dropped from Rankings: Kentucky (#23), Minnesota (#25), TCU (#25)

Others Receiving Votes: Charlotte 29, Kentucky 29, Arizona 28, Purdue 22, TCU 21, Texas Tech 21, Minnesota 16, Auburn 10, Washington 8, Eastern Kentucky 5, SMU 5, New Mexico 3, South Carolina 2, Notre Dame 1, UC Santa Barbara 1