Oregon and Florida State remained at the top of the NCAA Softball polls following week eight’s action. Oregon is #1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll while Florida State is atop the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
In the Coaches Poll, Florida State received 20 of the 32 first-place votes, which was two more than last week. Oregon sits in second, up one spot, with 8 first-place votes after getting six last week. Florida dropped a spot to third and received only one first-place vote, a decrease of five from last week. Arizona is fourth with three first-place votes, one more than last week. The top five is rounded out by Auburn, who remains in the same place as last week.
There was some movement in the next five slots beginning with Texas A&M in sixth and Minnesota in seventh. Those teams swapped positions from last week while LSU climbs to eighth after sweeping Mississippi State. UCLA moves up four spots to ninth after taking two of three on the road from the team sitting in tenth, Washington.
Oklahoma is 11th and Alabama is 12th after being ranked ninth last week. The Tide lost two of three games on the road against Missouri. Baylor is up one spot to 13th while James Madison is 14th (down three spots), and Utah remains in 15th.
Louisiana-Lafayette is 16th, Tennessee is 17th, and Michigan is 18th as the Wolverines ride a winning streak of 12 in a row with seven straight shutouts. Georgia is down a spot to 19th after being swept by Auburn while Kentucky is down four spots to 20th after losing two of three to Ole Miss.
Speaking of Ole Miss, they are 21st followed by BYU in 22nd and Arizona State in 23rd. Missouri is back in the top 25 at number 24 while we have a tie for the final spot in the rankings. Arkansas and Ohio State are a joint 25th with the Buckeyes cracking this poll for the first time. Wisconsin fell out of the top 25 while the entire Coaches Poll can be seen below.
| Rank | School (1st place votes) | Points | Record | Last Week's Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida State (20) | 781 | 35-1-1 | 1 |
| 2 | Oregon (8) | 766 | 33-0 | 3 |
| 3 | Florida (1) | 732 | 33-2 | 2 |
| 4 | Arizona (3) | 725 | 37-1 | 4 |
| 5 | Auburn | 663 | 31-5 | 5 |
| 6 | Texas A&M | 644 | 31-3 | 7 |
| 7 | Minnesota | 595 | 30-3 | 6 |
| 8 | LSU | 529 | 31-7 | 10 |
| 9 | UCLA | 498 | 26-9 | 13 |
| 10 | Washington | 496 | 27-8 | 8 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 480 | 31-7 | 12 |
| 12 | Alabama | 451 | 32-6 | 9 |
| 13 | Baylor | 414 | 32-6 | 14 |
| 14 | James Madison | 410 | 30-5 | 11 |
| 15 | Utah | 357 | 24-7 | 15 |
| 16 | Louisiana | 309 | 26-5 | 17 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 290 | 31-5 | 19 |
| 18 | Michigan | 265 | 26-7-1 | 20 |
| 19 | Georgia | 222 | 27-10 | 18 |
| 20 | Kentucky | 218 | 24-8 | 16 |
| 21 | Ole Miss | 114 | 24-11 | 24 |
| 22 | BYU | 97 | 23-10 | 25 |
| 23 | Arizona State | 65 | 23-12 | 21 |
| 24 | Missouri | 59 | 20-14 | Not Ranked |
| T-25 | Arkansas | 50 | 22-12 | 23 |
| T-25 | Ohio State | 50 | 22-7 | Not Ranked |
In the USA Softball Poll, Oregon consolidated their lead at the top garnering 15 first-place votes out of 20 total. That is an increase of 7 from last week as the Ducks remain the lone unbeaten in NCAA Division 1 softball at 33-0 through Monday’s games.
Following the Ducks are Florida State (three first-place votes) and Arizona (two first-place votes). Both teams moved up a spot at the expense of Florida, which dropped from second to fourth and received no first-place votes after receiving 8 last week. Texas A&M is the final team in the top five, unchanged from last week.
Auburn is sixth and Minnesota is seventh with the teams swapping spots from last week. LSU is eighth, up two spots, while Oklahoma is ninth, up three spots. Washington is tenth, down two spots.
Coming in at number 11 is Alabama, who is down two spots. Meanwhile, moving up two spots to 12th is UCLA followed by James Madison, Baylor, and Utah. 16th through 20th is occupied by Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Kentucky.
There is a tie for 21st in the USA Softball Poll between California and Ohio State. 23rd belongs to previously unranked BYU, Arizona State is 24th, and Missouri is back in the poll at 25th. Wisconsin and Arkansas both fell out of the poll, which can be seen below.
| Rank | School (1st place votes) | Points | Record | Last Week's Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon (15) | 494 | 33-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Florida State (3) | 470 | 35-1-1 | 3 |
| 3 | Arizona (2) | 462 | 37-1 | 4 |
| 4 | Florida | 451 | 33-2 | 2 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 416 | 31-3 | 5 |
| 6 | Auburn | 393 | 31-5 | 7 |
| 7 | Minnesota | 376 | 30-3 | 6 |
| 8 | LSU | 349 | 31-7 | 10 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 312 | 31-7 | 12 |
| 10 | Washington | 308 | 27-8 | 8 |
| 11 | Alabama | 284 | 32-6 | 9 |
| 12 | UCLA | 280 | 26-9 | 14 |
| 13 | James Madison | 270 | 30-5 | 11 |
| 14 | Baylor | 266 | 32-6 | 13 |
| 15 | Utah | 211 | 24-7 | 15 |
| 16 | Michigan | 208 | 26-7-1 | 18 |
| 17 | Tennessee | 189 | 31-5 | 19 |
| 18 | Georgia | 154 | 27-10 | T-16 |
| 19 | Louisiana | 137 | 26-5 | 20 |
| 20 | Kentucky | 123 | 24-8 | T-16 |
| T-21 | California | 56 | 21-11 | 22 |
| T-21 | Ohio State | 56 | 22-7 | 25 |
| 23 | BYU | 44 | 23-10 | Not Ranked |
| 24 | Arizona State | 38 | 23-12 | 23 |
| 25 | Missouri | 34 | 20-14 | Not Ranked |
Previous Polls
Below are the polls from earlier in the season.
Weekly Reviews