LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Texas, for the first time in program history, starts the season as the No. 1 team in the 2025 NFCA/GoRout Division I Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Longhorns, who were the 2024 national runners up, captured 15 first-place votes (757 points) and secured the top spot ahead of four-time national champion Oklahoma, who followed with 10 first-place votes and 737 points.
Texas’ march to the championship series was its second time in three seasons under head coach Mike White, who has guided the Longhorns to 260 wins in his first six seasons as skipper. Texas closed out the final five weeks of the 2024 regular season at No. 1, a ranking it earned for the first time since 2006. Setting a program record for victories, the Longhorns (55-10) earned the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed and finished with an 8-3 record in the postseason.
On the flip side, it marks the first time since 2021 when the Sooners were not the preseason favorites (4th). OU held the No. 1 ranking 56 times since March 2 of 2021. The Sooners have won five of the last seven national championships and seven overall. Their .984 winning percentage (61-1) also eclipsed UCLA’s Division I record of .964 (54-2), which stood since 1992.
Florida, which handed Oklahoma its only postseason defeat in 2024, completed the Southeastern Conference’s stranglehold on the top three spots. The Gators (54-15), who were national semifinalists last season, collected six first-place votes and 733 points, just four off of OU’s total.
Women’s College World Series participants Oklahoma State (49-12) and UCLA (43-12) round out the top five. Tennessee (44-12), who reached the Super Regionals, comes in at No. 6, followed by WCWS newcomer Duke (52-9) at No. 7. The final three spots of the top 10 belong to No. 8 Texas A&M (44-15), No. 9 Florida State (46-16) and No. 10 LSU (44-17), who all fell in the Super Regionals.
In all, the SEC littered the charts with 11 teams, which included six in the top 10 and 10 in the top 15. The rest of the poll was represented by three other conferences - the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 10 with five each and the Big 12 with four.
Five programs that finished outside the top 25 last season are ranked to start 2025 – No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 19 Nebraska, No. 20 Baylor, No. 21 Northwestern and No. 23 Oregon.
On the opening weekend, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 7 Duke, No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 15 Missouri, No. 19 Nebraska, No. 21 Northwestern and No. 24 Mississippi State, along with RV Kentucky and RV Penn State, make up over half of the 17-team field at the 2025 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic presented by MaxBP, in Clearwater, Fla. Those programs will go head-to-head in 13 of the 43 contests slated for Feb. 6-9 at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.
The 2025 NFCA/GoRout Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 31 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. The first regular season poll will be revealed on Feb. 11 at 10:00 a.m. ET and every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. throughout the regular season.
2025 NFCA/GoRout Division I Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
1/28/25 (Preseason)
Rank |
School (First Place Votes) |
Points |
Record |
1 |
Texas (15) |
757 |
0-0 |
2 |
Oklahoma (10) |
737 |
0-0 |
3 |
Florida (6) |
733 |
0-0 |
4 |
Oklahoma State |
648 |
0-0 |
5 |
UCLA |
623 |
0-0 |
6 |
Tennessee |
605 |
0-0 |
7 |
Duke |
551 |
0-0 |
8 |
Texas A&M |
549 |
0-0 |
9 |
Florida State |
480 |
0-0 |
10 |
LSU |
462 |
0-0 |
11 |
Alabama |
443 |
0-0 |
12 |
Georgia |
378 |
0-0 |
13 |
Texas Tech |
367 |
0-0 |
14 |
Arkansas |
333 |
0-0 |
15 |
Missouri |
323 |
0-0 |
16 |
Arizona |
306 |
0-0 |
17 |
Virginia Tech |
247 |
0-0 |
18 |
Stanford |
203 |
0-0 |
19 |
Nebraska |
189 |
0-0 |
20 |
Baylor |
166 |
0-0 |
21 |
Northwestern |
160 |
0-0 |
22 |
Washington |
136 |
0-0 |
23 |
Oregon |
125 |
0-0 |
24 |
Mississippi State |
98 |
0-0 |
25 |
Clemson |
80 |
0-0 |
Receiving Votes: California (69), Michigan (66), Louisiana (64), Boston University (39), Texas State (32), Kentucky (24), Omaha (23), Virginia (15), Penn State (14), Grand Canyon (8), Liberty (8), BYU (4), Indiana (3), San Diego State (3), South Carolina (2), Southeastern Louisiana (1), Utah (1).
The 2025 NFCA/GoRout Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 31 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. Poll will be released on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. ET during the regular season.
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