Women’s DI college softball rankings see little change before conference play starts
Top three Division I softball teams remain unchanged.
A month into the season, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s top 25 poll has solidified.
Little change in the top 15 shows which teams will more than likely contend in the postseason. The top three teams have stayed the same for the last three NFCA polls.
Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Texas have established themselves as the cream of the crop in college softball.
Tennessee remains the No. 1-ranked team after going 5-0 at the Tennessee Invitational. The Volunteers beat Appalachian State and Penn State twice, with a final win against North Carolina Central.
No. 2-ranked Texas Tech went 6-0 at the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic, dominating the competition. The Red Raiders won all of their games in five innings, scoring a total of 92 runs over the weekend.
The Longhorn Invitational saw Texas continue the trend of perfect weekends by going 4-0. Like Tennessee, Texas finished all four of its games in five innings.
Alabama leaps Florida and enters week four as the No. 4-ranked team in the country.
Alabama went 6-0, while Florida dropped one game to No. 8 UCLA. A quality loss keeps Florida in the top five, but Alabama continues its climb all the way from its preseason ranking of No. 15.
Stanford continues its fall to No. 21 after being ranked No. 12 two weeks ago.
Stanford went 1-2 following a three-game series against unranked Louisville. Stanford plays a three-game series against Pittsburgh next week, where any losses might remove them from the top 25.
South Carolina similarly continues to slide in the rankings. The Gamecocks managed a 4-1 record, but their lone loss came to 6-12 Marist University. This loss cost South Carolina four spots, placing them at No. 23.
Oregon reversed its own negative trend, gaining spots in the NFCA poll for the first time all year. The Ducks had a perfect 5-0 record at the Oregon Classic. The team is now ranked No. 18.
UCF joins the top 25 for the first time. A 5-0 record at the Charge U Classic propels UCF to the No. 24-ranked team in the country. UCF also got a win over No. 17 LSU earlier in the year
Clemson clings to the NFCA poll, remaining as the No. 25-ranked team for the second week in a row. An inspiring week for the Tigers saw wins over both No. 12 Mississippi State and No. 15 Georgia. A 7-8 loss to unranked Georgia Southern is the only reason they didn’t climb in the poll.
All around the country, conference play starts next week, seeing some of the best teams face off against each other.
The NFCA poll might see significant movement for the first time in a few weeks after some marquee matchups.
Here are the top 25 programs that ranked in week four.
25. Clemson, 13-7, (25)
24. UCF, 20-4, (Unranked)
23. South Carolina, 15-6, (19)
22. Arizona State, 19-3, (24)
21. Stanford, 11-6, (16)
20. Grand Canyon, 22-0, (22)
19. Oklahoma State, 15-5, (21)
18. Oregon, 13-6, (20)
17. LSU, 17-4, (17)
16. Virginia, 19-1, (18)
15. Georgia, 17-5, (15)
14. Texas A&M, 15-7, (13)
13. Arizona, 17-5, (14)
12. Mississippi State, 18-2, (12)
11. Virginia Tech, 16-2, (11)
10. Nebraska, 14-5, (9)
9. Florida State, 17-4, (10)
8. UCLA, 18-3, (8)
7. Arkansas, 19-1, (7)
6. Oklahoma, 19-2, (6)
5. Florida, 23-1, (4)
4. Alabama, 20-0, (5)
3. Texas, 19-1, (3)
2. Texas Tech, 22-1, (2)
1. Tennessee, 19-0, (1)
Thank you for reading Female Athlete News. Carter Joseph Brooks is a student-intern at Penn State University.