Alabama Softball Ranked No. 1 in USA Today/NFCA Poll
5/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ?? The University of Alabama softball team was listed as the No. 1 team in the country in the USA Today/NFCA Top-25 on Wednesday giving them top billing in both polls this week for the first time in school history.
On Tuesday they were named the No. 1 team for the first time when the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25 was released. In both polls the Crimson Tide took the top spot from Tennessee, who fell to No. 2 after losing two of three at LSU this past weekend. The Lady Vols held the No. 1 ranking for 11 straight weeks prior to this week’s poll.
Bama is currently on a 17-game winning streak and has taken their season record to 50-4, making them one of only two teams with 50 wins nationally. They are 21-4 and in a tie for first place in the SEC heading into the final weekend of conference play. They are just the second SEC team to ever achieve a No. 1 ranking.
For the past six of seven weeks, Bama has held the No. 2 spot in either the USA Softball or NFCA Top-25. The Tide has now been ranked in the Top-10 for 29 consecutive weeks and in the Top-25 in the last 73 polls.
Alabama will have a tough road ahead. The team they replaced in the top spot of the poll, Tennessee, held the longest streak ever at the top spot before the Tide moved ahead of them. The top two squads in the country will square off in Knoxville, Tenn. this weekend for the final series of the regular season. Both teams are tied with LSU for first in the conference heading into the final weekend of play.
The Tennessee series will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday with a doubleheader and conclude Sunday at 1 p.m.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches representing each conference. Records are as of Apr. 29.
First-place votes are in parenthesis.
Rank, School, Record, Pts., Pvs.
1. Alabama (20), 50-4, 641, 2
2. Tennessee (5), 51-4, 626, 1
3. Oklahoma, 49-6, 581, 3
4. LSU, 48-8, 567, 6
5. Arizona, 35-10-1, 555, 4
6. Texas A&M, 39-8, 526, 5
7. Northwestern, 41-10, 492, 8
8. Michigan, 40-9, 452, 9
9. Arizona State, 45-13, 437, 7
10. Baylor, 43-12, 401, 10
11. Washington, 32-13, 384, 11
12. UCLA, 33-13, 360, 12
13. Hawaii, 45-9, 331, 14
14. DePaul, 35-7, 303, 15
15. Oregon State, 35-18, 265, 13
16. Stanford, 31-14-1, 252, 17
17. Texas, 33-16, 207, 18
18. Oregon, 39-14, 198, 16
19. Georgia Tech, 49-13, 160, 21
20. Florida, 41-19, 147, 22
21. Southern Illinois, 37-11, 105, 19
22. Louisiana-Lafayette, 42-13, 100, 22
22. Illinois State, 39-13-1, 100, 24
24. Virginia Tech, 42-14, 98, 23
25. Missouri, 36-20, 39, NR
Others Receiving Votes: N.C. State 34, Fresno State 34, California 11, Massachusetts 10, Creighton 8, North Carolina 2. Six others received one vote each.
Dropped Out: No. 25 N.C. State.
