LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Saint Leo capped off a record-breaking season with its first NCAA Division II national title and is the unanimous No. 1 in the final 2026 NFCA/GoRout Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
The Lions (54-3-1) were a perfect 10-0 during their postseason run and finished with the fewest losses by a DII softball national champion. Ranked No. 1 for the final six polls, Saint Leo ended the season on an 11-game win streak, and won 49 of their last 50 games posting a school-record 54 victories and 38-game win streak.
As the No. 1 seed in Chattanooga, the Lions scored early and held on for wins against St. Thomas Aquinas and Cal State San Marcos, before rallying to defeat West Texas A&M, 5-4, in 10 innings in the semifinals. In the Championship Series against McKendree, the Green & Gold scored 11 unanswered runs in a 15-4 game-one win and topped the Bearcats, 5-2, to claim the title.
McKendree, one of three first-time Division II Women’s College World Series participants, also enjoyed a historic season as the national runner up. Powering to a school-record 51 wins, the Bearcats (51-17), not only won their first-ever NCAA Regional game, they concluded the postseason with an 8-3 record, which included a stretch of five one-run victories heading into the Championship Series. They survived an if necessary game against Rockhurst to advance to Super Regionals, where they turned the tide on perennial Midwest Region power UIndy with two one-run road wins, the second on a Lauren Harris walk-off home run, which also broke the single-season home run record at McKendree.
National semifinalist No. 3 Cal State San Marcos (57-12) and No. 4 West Texas A&M (54-10) both went 2-2 in Chattanooga, needed three games in Super Regionals and finished with 7-4 and 7-3 postseason records, respectively.
The next four spots were filled by DII WCWS participants – No. 5 Missouri Southern (54-10), No. 6 North Georgia (52-11), No. 7 Glenville State (51-18) and No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas (38-14).
The latter two programs were making their debuts and joined McKendree with historical 2026 seasons for their respective programs. Glenville State won four consecutive elimination games to claim its first-ever regional title and knocked off Kutztown in three games to advance to Chattanooga.
St. Thomas Aquinas swept through Regionals and Super Regionals, which included a five-run eighth inning in game two against Assumption, and entered the DII WCWS on a 23-game win streak. They recorded a program-record 38 wins and 18 East Coast Conference regular-season victories to go along with ECC regular-season and tournament championships.
Rounding out the top 10 are Super Regional participants, No. 9 UIndy (59-7) and No. 10 Francis Marion (47-13).
Also making significant jumps in the final polls were No. 12 Oklahoma Christian rising 10 spots, along with No. 18 Biola and No. 23 Saginaw Valley State joined after receiving votes in the final regular-season poll. Kutztown returns in the final edition at No. 25 after being ranked in the first three polls of the season.
The 2026 NFCA/GoRout Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by the NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll Committee. The committee consists of 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the NCAA’s eight regions. The poll is announced every Tuesday at noon ET during the regular season. Records reflect games played through June 3.
2026 NFCA/GoRout Division II Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll
June 9, 2026 (Final)
|
RANK |
TEAM |
POINTS |
RECORD |
PREV. RANKING |
|
1 |
Saint Leo |
400 |
54-3-1 |
1 |
|
2 |
McKendree |
384 |
51-17 |
14 |
|
3 |
Cal State San Marcos |
365 |
57-12 |
4 |
|
4 |
West Texas A&M |
354 |
54-10 |
6 |
|
5 |
Missouri Southern |
331 |
54-10 |
5 |
|
6 |
North Georgia |
326 |
52-11 |
3 |
|
7 |
Glenville State |
301 |
51-18 |
RV |
|
8 |
St. Thomas Aquinas |
282 |
38-14 |
NR |
|
9 |
Indianapolis |
278 |
59-7 |
2 |
|
10 |
Francis Marion |
253 |
47-13 |
8 |
|
11 |
Central Oklahoma |
240 |
46-16 |
11 |
|
12 |
Oklahoma Christian |
217 |
43-16 |
22 |
|
13 |
Southern Arkansas |
197 |
48-9 |
9 |
|
14 |
West Florida |
184 |
44-14 |
12 |
|
15 |
Colorado Christian |
174 |
55-7 |
7 |
|
16 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
158 |
41-15 |
15 |
|
17 |
AUM |
149 |
43-13 |
10 |
|
18 |
Biola |
134 |
42-23 |
RV |
|
19 |
Cal State East Bay |
112 |
43-17 |
13 |
|
20 |
Pittsburg State |
96 |
48-11 |
17 |
|
21 |
Angelo State |
87 |
47-14 |
16 |
|
22 |
Shippensburg |
49 |
39-18 |
21 |
|
23 |
Saginaw Valley State |
32 |
39-16 |
RV |
|
24 |
Concordia |
24 |
43-17 |
18 |
|
25 |
Kutztown |
20 |
39-22 |
NR |
Receiving Votes: Franklin Pierce (13), East Stroudsburg (9), Rogers State (9), UT Tyler (7), West Alabama (7), Tampa (4), Cal State Dominguez Hills (3), UAH (1).
Dropped Out: No. 19 UT Tyler, No. 20 St. Cloud State, No. 23 West Alabama, No. 24 Franklin Pierce, No. 25 Winona State.
The 2026 NFCA/Go Rout Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by the NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll Committee. The committee consists of 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the NCAA’s eight regions. Records reflect games played through June 3.
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