Stanford's Seismic Performance
The Differential Ranking Update
Just west of the Stanford campus runs the San Andreas Fault, known for its home to seismic activity. Fittingly, the Richter Scale — created to measure earthquakes — was invented by Stanford graduate Charles Richter in the 1930s.
Two miles from the San Andreas Fault, the Stanford women’s team continued sending shockwaves throughout the college golf world with a 38-shot victory at the Stanford Regional, capped by Andrea Revuelta’s holed bunker shot on the 18th to secure the individual regional championship by two shots.
Stanford’s 38-shot victory will also undoubtedly break another scale, with initial readings registering a magnitude of 170 points.
There seems to be just one thing in Stanford’s way headed to La Costa.
La Costa Bracket Busters
Seven teams ranked outside the top 30 in the country entering the Regional Championships qualified for the NCAA Championships at La Costa.
Four of those teams were No. 6 seeds — definitely not underdogs — while two, Texas Tech and Oregon State, were among the final teams selected into the field.
How do their performances compare to the rest of their season in Event SG?
Ann Arbor Regional
Northwestern. At No. 32 entering the week, the defending National Champions are headed back to La Costa to defend their title.
Since winning the Spartan Sun Coast Invite to begin the Spring, Northwestern’s best finish leading into to this week was an 8th place finish at Ohio State.
The Wildcats 4th place finish in Ann Arbor, based on our Event SG projections, will net them their 4th best point total of the season.
Texas Tech. Entering the Big 12 Championship squarely on the bubble, the Red Raiders continued their momentum from their Conference Championship performance by locking up a trip to La Costa with what projects to be their 3rd best performance of the season.
Chapel Hill Regional
Michigan State. The Spartans advanced alongside Virginia in three-team playoff with NC State.
From a strokes gained perspective, Michigan State played well above its season average this week, but an estimated Event SG of .84 still projects as only the Spartans’ sixth-best performance of the season.
Virginia. At No. 35 entering the week, the Cavaliers are not a major surprise to advance to La Costa.
With the same projected Event SG as Michigan State, Virginia’s point total this week looks to be the Cavaliers’ fifth-best performance of the season.
Stanford Regional
Oregon State. For the 3rd time in 4 years the Beavers are headed to the NCAA Championships.
Powered by their best performance of the season, Oregon State continued its late-season surge at Stanford. The Beavers opened the year earning 48.8 points at Seattle U’s event, but their third-place finish on The Farm this week projects to net nearly 56 points.
Tallahassee Regional
Kentucky. Seismic activity is not typically associated with Florida, but the Wildcats’ finish in Tallahassee might have registered on the Richter Scale.
Entering the week at No. 34, Kentucky delivered what projects to be its best Event SG performance of the season to punch a ticket to La Costa.
Waco Regional
LSU. The Tigers’ fifth-best performance of the season sends them to La Costa.
The Best Thing We Saw Today…
The feeling coaches and players experience after advancing through an NCAA Regional and surviving to reach the NCAA Championship might bring even more joy than winning a conference title. At a Regional, finishing fifth feels exactly like finishing first — and it is a great feeling.
But alongside the celebration comes the heartbreak of seasons and careers ending for so many teams and players, which brings us to the best thing we saw today.
Thanks to Coach Emily Marron at Central Florida.
2026 NCAA Championship Projected Seedings / Ranking
The Differential Ranking - 5.14.26 DI Women’s Golf (Team)
The Differential Ranking - 5.14.26 DI Women’s Golf (Individual)
A new No. 1 in The Differential - Paula Martin Sampedro (Stanford) moves to No. 1 with a runner-up finish at the Stanford Regional. Former No. 1 Farah O’Keefe finished T7 at North Carolina and drops to No. 2.
Stanford has four players ranked inside the top 6 of The Differential and five inside the top 9…
