Coaches Make it Unanimous: Oklahoma No. 1

Softball coaches from around the country say the two-time defending national champion Sooners are unanimously the favorite to three-peat.

By OU Media Relations

Oklahoma was chosen as the unanimous No. 1 in the 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll, the NFCA announced the poll Tuesday.

Oklahoma's No. 1 spot in the NFCA poll marks the fourth time the Sooners enter a season in the top spot (2017, '18, ’22, ’23) and the third time OU has been the unanimous choice in the coaches poll, joining the 2017 and 2022 squads. The Sooners have been the top-ranked team for 30 consecutive polls dating back to March 2, 2021.

OU received 800 total points and all 32 first-place votes to lead No. 2 UCLA (747) and No. 3 Oklahoma State (723). Florida and Florida State rounded out the top five.

The full NFCA poll can be seen here.

Additionally, it's the 12th straight year the Sooners have started in the NFCA's top 10, good for the nation's longest active streak. OU has been ranked in the top five 10 of the past 11 years, the most over that stretch.

Overall, the Sooners are tied with Arizona for second with 23 top-10 appearances in the NFCA preseason poll, trailing only UCLA’s 24.

Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington are the only programs to be ranked in every NFCA preseason poll, which dates back to 1995. OU also extended its streak of being the only program ranked every week in the 28-year existence of the NFCA's poll, 407 straight polls.

The Sooners, also the preseason unanimous No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25, were recently selected as the Big 12 preseason favorite, marking the 11th straight year and 14th in the last 15 seasons that OU has topped the conference's preseason poll.

The 2022-23 team returns five All-Americans in Jordy Bahl, Jayda Coleman, Kinzie Hansen, Tiare Jennings and Grace Lyons. The Sooners are coming off a dominant 2022 campaign that saw the team finish 59-3 and claim their 10th straight Big 12 regular season title and second straight national championship.

OU opens the 2023 season Feb. 9 in Irvine, CA, at the second annual Mark Campbell Invitational. OU will meet four postseason teams from a season ago at the opening-weekend tournament, starting with the opener vs. No. 16 Duke on Feb. 9. The home slate begins at Marita Hynes Field on March 3 vs. UIC and Kentucky. The 2023 schedule features 14 home games, including three Big 12 series in Norman.