LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Two-time defending national champion Oklahoma is the unanimous No. 1 team in the 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll. Receiving all 32 first-place votes, the Sooners enter this year No. 1 for the 30^th consecutive poll.

OU capped off a record-breaking season with a dominant run through the postseason, which saw the Sooners post a 10-1 record, including 5-1 at the Women’s College World Series. Capturing their fourth national title in the last six years and sixth overall (trailing just UCLA and Arizona), the Sooners knocked off Big 12 rival Texas in the Championship Series. The preseason Big 12 favorites are 115-7 the past two seasons with three of those losses coming at the WCWS.

Along with Oklahoma, the Big 12 has three programs in the top six with Oklahoma State and Texas coming in at No. 3 and 6, respectively. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) led the way with nine nationally-ranked programs with three of those – No. 4 Florida, No. 7 Arkansas and No. 9 Alabama – in the top 10. The Atlantic Coast Conference also had multiple teams in the top 10 with Florida State at No. 5 and Clemson at No. 10.

National semifinalists UCLA was voted No. 2. The Bruins (51-10) went 8-2 during the postseason, including a 5-0 run into the WCWS. Since the final poll of 2017, UCLA has been ranked in the top five all but two times (sixth). 

The Cowgirls (48-14), who won their first Big 12 Tournament title last year, captured the first seven games of the postseason, which included a sweep of the No. 10 seed Clemson in Super Regionals. OSU, picked second in the Big 12, knocked off Arizona and Florida to reach the semifinals before falling to Texas twice.

SEC and ACC preseason No. 1s Florida and Florida State were voted No. 4 and No. 5. The Gators (49-19) reached their 11^th WCWS in 2022, while the Seminoles won 54 games, but were upset by Mississippi State in the Tallahassee Regional.

National runner-up Texas enters 2023 at No. 6 following a run to its first-ever Championship Series as the first unseeded team to accomplish this feat. The Longhorns (47-22-1), picked third in the Big 12, won four true road games to get to the WCWS and completed their best campaign to date with a 9-4 postseason record.

Arkansas, Northwestern, Alabama and Clemson fill the final four spots of the top 10. The No. 7 Razorbacks reached Super Regionals for the second straight season, while the No. 8 Wildcats (45-13) earned their first trip to the WCWS since 2007. The Crimson Tide (44-13) were a regional finalist, while the Tigers (42-17) won their first-ever Regional and faced off against Oklahoma State in Super Regionals.

Along with Florida, Arkansas and Alabama, six more SEC programs – No. 13 Tennessee, No. 15 Georgia, No. 20 Kentucky, No. 21 Auburn, No. 23 Mississippi State and No. 25 LSU - were nationally ranked.

Seven Pac-12 programs graced the national poll. Joining No. 2 UCLA are No. 12 Arizona, No. 14 Washington, No. 17 Stanford, No. 19 Oregon State, No. 22 Arizona State and No. 24 Oregon. The ACC had four representatives with Florida State, Clemson, No. 11 Virginia Tech and No. 16 Duke. 

OU, OSU and Texas represent the Big 12, while Northwestern and No. 18 UCF are the lone representatives of the Big Ten and The American Athletic Conference.

The 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll Committee. The committee is comprised of 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. The first poll of the regular season will be published on Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. ET.

2023 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll

January 31 (Preseason)

Receiving Votes: Missouri (96), Michigan (53), Louisiana (44), Ole Miss (36), Nebraska (16), Georgia Tech (15), Notre Dame (13), San Diego State (10), North Texas (5), Iowa State (6), Baylor (2), Liberty (2), Loyola Marymount (2), Cal State Fullerton (1), Wichita State (1).

The 2023 USA Today / NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. 

2023 NFCA DI Top 25 Committee

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