When polling season began, the University of California sat at the top of the preseason ranking with the University of Washington holding fourth place. As the season unfolded, Washington began to race its way to the top as Cal fell to second.
At the conclusion of racing on Mercer Lake at the 2017 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships, Washington claimed the national title by nine points over Cal, which the final USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Division I poll presented by Pocock Racing Shells.
The Division I women of Washington took first in every event at NCAAs and garnered all 25 first-place votes in this week’s poll. Cal took second overall in the championship race and locked its spot as the second seed this week.
The University of Michigan was third in this week’s rankings, while the University of Texas and The Ohio State University rounded out the polls in fourth and fifth, respectively. Stanford University enjoyed a jump up to sixth in the coaches poll after the varsity eight finished in second place in the NCAA grand final, just two seconds behind Washington.
In Division II polling, Western Washington University held its top rank, obtaining all five votes after narrowly taking the team points title from second-place University of Central Oklahoma at NCAAs by one point.
In third was Mercyhurst University, while the Florida Institute of Technology and Humboldt State University took the fourth and fifth-place rankings in the final coaches poll.
The Division III rankings are categorized solely by varsity eights standing and a postseason poll is not run. The final DIII poll can be found May 17th.
Women’s NCAA Division I Rankings
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Votes | Prior Ranking |
| 1 | University of Washington (25) | 500 | 1 |
| 2 | University of California, Berkeley | 463 | 2 |
| 3 | University of Michigan | 415 | 3 |
| 4 | University of Texas | 400 | 4t |
| 5 | Ohio State University | 396 | 4t |
| 6 | Stanford University | 387 | 8 |
| 7 | Yale University | 347 | 9 |
| 8 | Brown University | 320 | 6 |
| 9 | University of Wisconsin | 307 | 11 |
| 10 | Princeton University | 304 | 7 |
| 11 | University of Virginia | 258 | 10 |
| 12 | Indiana University | 205 | 14 |
| 13 | Syracuse University | 195 | 12 |
| 14 | Washington State University | 179 | 15 |
| 15 | University of Iowa | 173 | 13 |
| 16 | University of Notre Dame | 101 | 16 |
| 17 | Northeastern University | 74 | NR |
| 18 | University of Southern California | 39 | 17 |
| 19 | Michigan State University | 34 | 18 |
| 20 | Duke University | 33 | 19 |
Other Receiving Votes in Alphabetical Order: Gonzaga University, Harvard University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Central Florida, University of Louisville, University of Oklahoma, University of Pennsylvania
Women’s NCAA Division II Rankings
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Votes | Prior Ranking |
| 1 | Western Washington University (5) | 190 | 1 |
| 2 | University of Central Oklahoma | 165 | 2 |
| 3 | Mercyhurst University | 135 | 3 |
| 4 | Florida Institute of Technology | 103 | 6 |
| 5 | Humboldt State University | 100 | 4 |
| 6 | University of California San Diego | 78 | 5 |
| 7 | Barry University | 63 | 7 |
| 8 | Nova Southeastern University | 42 | 8 |
Other Receiving Votes: Philadelphia University (25)