USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
A new team tops the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Softball Poll for the third time this season, but it’s a team that’s very familiar with the top spot. UCLA earned 12 first-place votes to edge Tennessee by eight points for the No. 1 position, the association announced Wednesday.
The Bruins, who started the season in the No. 2 spot, moved into the highest position for the first time since the final poll of the 2004 season and led a pack of seven Pac-10 squads in the poll.
The Lady Vols, one of six SEC teams in the poll, received 11 first-place nods to land at No. 2 after taking two of three from Auburn to open conference play.
Texas garnered a trio of No. 1 votes and moved up to third after winning the Judi Garman Classic title with victories over four nationally-ranked squads, including former No. 1 Arizona. The Wildcats struggled against the “Lone Star State” this past weekend, dropping 1-0 decisions to the Longhorns and Texas A&M to fall out of the top spot down to No. 4.
The No. 5-8 positions remained unchanged again this week with Pac-10 foes Stanford, California, and Oregon State coming in at fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively. Alabama stayed at No. 6 with a pair of wins over ranked squads, while Louisiana-Lafayette stayed in the top 10 despite dropping its first three games of the season to Texas, Washington and Arizona State. The win over the Ragin’ Cajuns moved the Sun Devils up to the ninth spot and into the top 10 for the first time since Feb. 26, 2003.
Georgia jumped into the No. 11 position with a 5-1 opening in the SEC. The Bulldogs jumped over LSU, who fell one place to No. 13, after clinching the three-game set from the Tigers last weekend.
Michigan fell out of the top 10 to No. 12 following a 2-4 week, while Washington, one of the teams to defeat the Wolverines, moved up one place to 14th. Oklahoma rounded out the top 15, falling one place from a week ago.
Texas A&M made the biggest jump of the week, moving up four places to No. 16 after knocking off Arizona, Oklahoma and Washington. The Aggies’ jump knocked Big 12-foe Nebraska down to No. 17, while Northwestern and Auburn each dropped one place to 18th and 19th, respectively.
Louisville moved up one place to No. 20, while Baylor dropped two spots to the 21st position. Mississippi State held steady at No. 22, while Fresno State moved up one place to No. 23. North Carolina advanced to No. 24, while DePaul fell two places to round out the poll in the 25th position.
