Alabama Softball Remains Near Top of Polls as it Prepares to Face Yet Another Ranked Opponent
This is one of those good news, bad news types of situations.
The good news for the University of Alabama softball team is that it didn't really drop in the major polls this week, staying at No. 4 in the coaches poll and sliding just one spot to No. 4 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.
The bad news was that both rankings included games through Sunday. The next day the Crimson Tide took a 5-4 loss in extra innings at Kentucky, giving the Wildcats the series.
Sticking with that same theme, Alabama (26-4) will face its fourth straight ranked opponent this upcoming weekend, Texas A&M (No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll), with the series beginning Thursday at Rhoads Stadium.
It'll mark the midway point of the Southeastern Conference schedule and the Crimson Tide is 20-2 at home this season.
However, the Crimson Tide is still No. 1 in the NCAA women's softball RPI (again, through Sunday's games).
USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches poll
Rank, Team (First place) Points, Record, Previous
1 Oklahoma (32) 800 5-0 1
2 UCLA 765 19-1 2
3 Oregon 727 23-1 3
4 Alabama 693 26-3 4
5 Florida 690 24-3 5
6 Washington 611 24-4 6
7 Texas 572 24-3 8
8 Kentucky 555 24-4 7
9 Arizona 552 18-5 9
10 Florida State 495 20-6 12
11 Oklahoma State 448 26-5 10
12 Duke 434 26-3 11
13 Arkansas 404 28-3 15
14 Arizona State 403 19-8 14
15 LSU 350 18-11 13
16 Louisiana 331 20-6 16
17 Missouri 244 24-7 18
18 Clemson 227 22-4 20
19 Virginia Tech 222 19-5 19
20 Georgia 201 22-5 17
21 Tennessee 177 23-5 21
22 UCF 170 24-6 22
23 Michigan 84 13-3 25
24 Northwestern 73 15-1 NR
25 Baylor 38 21-5 NR
New to Poll: No. 24 Northwestern, No. 25 Baylor
Dropped Out: No. 23 South Carolina, No. 24 Auburn
Receiving Votes: Texas A&M (34), Auburn (32), South Carolina (26), Liberty (12), Texas State (10), Wichita State (8), James Madison (3), Western Kentucky (3), Minnesota (2), Fresno State (1), Miami (Ohio) (1), Notre Dame (1), Southern Illinois (1).
ESPN.com/USA Softball
1 Oklahoma (19) 25-0 1
2 UCLA 19-1 2
3 Oregon 23-1 4
4 Alabama (1) 26-3 3
5 Florida 24-3 5
6 Washington 24-4 6
7 Kentucky 24-4 7
8 Arizona 18-5 8
9 Texas 24-3 10
10 Florida State 20-6 13
11 Arkansas 28-3 15
12 Oklahoma State 26-5 9
13 Arizona State 19-8 14
14 Duke 26-3 12
15 LSU 18-11 11
16 Virginia Tech 19-5 16
17 Louisiana 20-6 17
18 Tennessee 23-5 19
19 Clemson 22-4 21
20 Missouri 24-7 20
21 Northwestern 15-1 22
21 UCF 24-6 24
23 Georgia 22-5 18
24 Texas A&M 23-5 NR
25 Auburn 19-8 25
Dropped Out: South Carolina (23)
Others Receiving Votes: Baylor, Michigan, Texas State, James Madison, Stanford, Liberty, South Carolina, Minnesota, South Florida, Western Kentucky, Ole Miss, S Illinois
