Mississippi State Softball Has Historic Debut in NCAA RPI Rankings

The Bulldogs’ historic 24-2 start has Mississippi State softball ranked No. 9 in the first NCAA RPI of the season.

Mississippi State Infielder Nadia Barbary (#10) during the game between the South Alabama Jaguars and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Jaguar Field in Mobile, AL. | Mississippi State Athletics

Mississippi State softball is off to one of its all-time best starts to a season and the first edition of the NCAA’s RPI standings further proves that.

The Bulldogs are No. 9 in the first NCAA RPI release of the season. That is their highest mark in the RPI in program history. Previously, Mississippi State had climbed as high as No. 19 in the final selection rankings of 2008.

At 24-2 to start the season, Mississippi State will try to begin SEC play with its highest winning percentage in program history. To do that, the Bulldogs will need to beat Southeast Missouri twice on Tuesday. That’d give them a .929 percentage, besting the previous record of .905 set in 2014.

The Bulldogs also moved up four spots in the first of the major college softball rankings to be published Monday.

Mississippi State was ranked No. 13 overall by Softball America after going 6-0 last week.

Finished off a 6⃣-0⃣ week while outscoring teams, 27-5!#HailStatehttps://t.co/9HlxSW3R4x

— Mississippi State Softball (@HailStateSB) March 8, 2026

But the road is about to get a lot harder, as evidenced by the rankings of other SEC teams in the RPI and Softball America. The Bulldogs next opponent, Tennessee, is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in both sets of rankings. It’s also a safe bet the Lady Vols will be the top ranked team in the other major polls that are released on Tuesdays.

That’ll end up being a matchup of strength vs. strength as both Mississippi State and Tennessee rank in the top 10 for team ERAs in the nation. Tennessee is first with 0.47 ERA and Mississippi State is sixth at 1.32.

The Dawgs are home and SEC play is around the corner!

🎟️ https://t.co/rQsjro4qpB#HailState pic.twitter.com/hEzwYlQxrv

— Mississippi State Softball (@HailStateSB) March 9, 2026

The depth of the Bulldogs’ pitching staff has been one of the many bright spots through the first month of the season.

“Pitching depth, it's important. Especially nowadays, and moving forward into a conference play, we're going to need them all,” Mississippi State coach Samantha Rickets said after Sunday’s 4-2 win against South Alabama. “They're just trusting one another to do their job and the role that they're given that day. And I think we do have a lot of depth. They all provide different looks, and it's able to keep opposing teams off balance. We can mix and match them as we need them to get us out of some jams, and to close out that game. I just loved the composure and the poise of all of them when they came in for their innings.”

Here's where all 15 SEC teams (Vanderbilt doesn’t have a softball program) rank in the NCAA RPI, as well as the full top 25 released by Softball America.

NCAA RPI

1. Tennessee (23-0)
2. Alabama (23-0)
4. Texas (22-1)
5. Florida (25-1)
7. Arkansas (21-2)
8. LSU (17-7)
9. Mississippi St. (24-2)
11. Georgia (19-7)
14. Oklahoma (24-2)
18. Auburn (19-7)
22. Ole Miss (18-8)
28. South Carolina (15-9)
29. Kentucky (19-6)
37. Texas A&M (17-8)
68. Missouri (7-15)

Softball America Top 25 Rankings

1. Tennessee (23-0)
2. Texas (22-1)
3. Texas Tech (25-1)
4. Alabama (23-0)
5. Arkansas (21-2)
6. Oklahoma (24-2)
7. UCLA (21-3)
8. Florida (25-1)
9. Nebraska (18-5)
10. Virginia Tech (21-2)
11. Florida State (21-4)
12. Virginia (22-2)
13. Mississippi State (24-2)
14. Georgia (19-7)
15. UCF (22-5)
16. Oklahoma State (17-7)
17. Arizona (20-5)
18. Oregon (18-7)
19. LSU (17-7)
20. Stanford (14-6)
21. Grand Canyon (27-0)
22. Texas A&M (17-8)
23. Washington (19-6)
24. Auburn (19-7)
25. Utah (21-5)