Oklahoma City, OK - No. 1 overall seed in NCAA Division I Softball Championship earns Florida top billing in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
Just two days after securing the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship, the regular-season Southeastern Conference (SEC) Champion Florida Gators (53-5, 20-4 SEC) remain atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. Holding top billing in all but one poll this season, Florida is the nearly unanimous top-ranked team in the country after securing 18-of-20 first-place votes while Auburn (49-9, 16-7 SEC) and Oklahoma (47-4, 17-1 Big 12) garnered one first-place vote each. This marks the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll until the conclusion of the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS), which will be held June 2-8 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field.
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Click here to see the complete ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
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No. 1 overall seed in NCAA Division I Softball Championship earns Florida top billing in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
OKLAHOMA CITY — Just two days after securing the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship, the regular-season Southeastern Conference (SEC) Champion Florida Gators (53-5, 20-4 SEC) remain atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball announced today. Holding top billing in all but one poll this season, Florida is the nearly unanimous top-ranked team in the country after securing 18-of-20 first-place votes while Auburn (49-9, 16-7 SEC) and Oklahoma (47-4, 17-1 Big 12) garnered one first-place vote each. This marks the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll until the conclusion of the NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS), which will be held June 2-8 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field.
Click here to see the complete ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
Florida enters the postseason following a 1-1 showing at the SEC Tournament in Starkville, Miss., where the Gators picked up a 1-0 shutout win over Ole Miss before dropping a 2-1 decision to then-No. 8 Auburn. Despite the upset, Florida earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship for the fourth time in program history and will host the Gainesville Regional starting on Friday.
Coming in at No. 2 is Michigan (46-5, 21-2 Big Ten), who put on a 2-1 showing at the Big Ten Conference Tournament in State College, Pa. Opening with a 10-0 shutout over Indiana, the Wolverines earned a spot in the Big Ten Tournament Championship after a 6-1 win over Penn State. Facing then-No. 19 Minnesota (41-12, 19-3 Big Ten), the game saw three lead changes, with Michigan dropping the 10-inning heartbreaker 4-3. Despite the loss, Michigan clinched a No. 2 seeding in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship and will host the Ann Arbor Regional starting on Friday.
After a dominant Bedlam showing, Oklahoma enters the post-season at No. 3. Facing Oklahoma State in their final Big 12 Conference matchup of the season, the Sooners offense came out hot in an 8-0 shutout to open the series. The Sooners followed with a 5-2 win in game two to extend their win streak to 22 games. Winner of five-straight Big 12 Championships, Oklahoma now enters the NCAA Division I Softball Championship as the No. 3 seed and will host the Norman Regional beginning on Friday.
Falling one spot to No. 4 this week is Oregon (44-8, 20-4 Pac-12), who had a 2-1 outing against Utah to end the regular season. The Ducks took the opening game of the Pac-12 Conference series, 5-1, before dropping a 3-2 decision in game two to even the series. Oregon would rebound for a 3-2 win in the series finale, helping them to earn the No. 5 overall seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. Oregon will now play host to the Eugene Regional, which begins play on Friday.
Auburn, who claimed their second-consecutive SEC Tournament title, rose three spots to No. 5 this week after an impressive run at the SEC Tournament. Entering as the No. 4 seed in the tournament, Auburn opened play in Starkville with a 6-4 upset over then-No. T4 Alabama (46-12, 16-8 SEC) and followed with a 2-1 upset over No. 1 Florida. Facing then-No. 13 LSU (45-15, 13-11 SEC) in the Championship Game, Auburn's bats came alive as the Tigers defended their SEC Tournament title with a 7-1 win. Their SEC Tournament run helped Auburn lock up a No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship, and the Tigers will host the Auburn Regional beginning on Friday.
Rounding out the Top 10: Alabama fell two spots to No. 6 after a 1-1 showing in the SEC Tournament; Florida State (47-8, 21-2 ACC) dropped to No. 7 this week despite clinching their third-consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship over the weekend; James Madison (46-4, 18-1 CAA) fell one spot to No. 8, but captured the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship; Louisiana-Lafayette (43-7, 21-2 Sun Belt) rose one spot to No. 9 this week after a 3-0 outing at the Sun Belt Tournament, as the Ragin' Cajuns captured the programs 13th Sun Belt Tournament title; No. 10 Tennessee (41-4, 16-7 SEC) went 1-1 at the SEC Tournament, picking up a 5-1 win over South Carolina before dropping a 3-1 (eight inning) decision to LSU.
Making the biggest jump this week is Minnesota, who rose four spots in the poll after they claimed the Big Ten Conference Tournament title. The Gophers started the Big Ten Tournament with a 2-0 shutout over Illinois before securing a spot in the Championship Game with an 8-4 win over Northwestern. Squaring off against No. 2 Michigan, Minnesota held on for the 4-3 (10 inning) upset, earning their second Big Ten Tournament Championship in three years.
The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA/USA Softball Regions as well as members of the National and Local media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.
About ASA/USA Softball
Founded in 1933, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA)/USA Softball is the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation's largest sports organizations, ASA/USA Softball sanctions competition in every state through a network of 70 local associations and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.2 million. ASA/USA is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women's National Team is one of 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 nine World Championship titles as well as claimed eight World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about ASA/USA Softball, please visit http://www.asausasoftball.com.
About the NCAA Women's College World Series
ASA Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field serves as the home to the NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS). For the 26th year, the top eight college teams in the nation will head to Oklahoma City and compete for a national championship. Last year, over 78,000 fans attended the WCWS. Be there to Share The Experience with softball fans from across the country June 2-8 in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the 2016 NCAA WCWS are on sale now, click here to purchase your tickets and secure your championship experience!
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