OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Arizona Wildcats will open up their 2008 season as the No. 1 team in the nation according to the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll announced today by the Amateur Softball Association. Arizona, with 19 first-place votes, will open up play at the Kajikawa Classic where they will face ranked opponents, No. 7 Northwestern and No. 3 Texas A&M.
A shift happened in the top 10 with UCLA moving to No. 6, with one first-place vote, while Oklahoma fell to No. 9. Despite the first win ever for Oklahoma on the home field of UCLA on Feb. 10, a 6-1 loss to UCLA on Feb. 8 and a run-rule by then No. 24 Cal-State Fullerton dropped the Sooners out of the top five.
Tennessee came back in the top 10 after spending most of last season in the top five. The Lady Volunteers secured the fifth spot after barely missing the top 10 with an 11th-place finish in last week’s poll. The Lady Vols went 5-0 at the Cathedral City Classic including big wins against ranked opponents Oregon, 5-0, and Oregon State, 8-1.
No. 21 Mississippi State made a big leap into the poll after receiving votes last week. The Bulldogs went 5-0 with three shutout games at the Cathedral City Classic. Georgia and UNLV tied at 23rd with UNLV making its first-ever appearance in the Top 25, after earning wins against ranked opponents Washington and Arizona State. Georgia is making its first appearance in the poll since 2006 when they were in the top 15 the entire season.
Dropping out of the top 25 are Texas (2-1), Oregon (2-3) and Georgia Tech (2-2).
For the complete poll log on to ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit www.usasoftball.com.
< Back to previous page