Softball Rankings: Week 11
4/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 20, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama softball team checked in ranked No.5 in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll and USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll. The Crimson Tide finished the week a perfect 4-0 after earning a weekend sweep over Mississippi and downing Mississippi Valley State.
After spending much of the season as the unanimous first-place pick, the University of Washington (35-4) received only 14 first-place votes this week, enough to remain the No. 1 team in the Nation according to the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll announced Tuesday by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America. Michigan (33-5) with six first-place votes is close on the tail of the Huskies, with an undefeated 9-0 record in Big Ten play.
The top five teams remain the same with No. 3 Arizona (35-7) coming off a series sweep over then-No. 10 Stanford (30-9), outscoring the Cardinal 18-8. No. 9 Arizona State (35-9) is within one spot of falling out of the top 10 after being swept in three games by California (33-11) who advanced two spots to No. 17 in this week's poll.
Florida State (37-12) posted a 1-4 weekend to fall four spots to No. 20 while North Carolina dropped out of the top 25, after a 2-3 weekend. After falling just one spot short of the top 25 last week, Notre Dame (34-7) came in at No. 25. The Fighting Irish is coming off a 5-1 weekend and are 12-1 in Big East Play.
Five conferences are recognized in the top 10 with the Pac-10 Conference leading the way with four and the SEC close behind with three teams. Both conferences have two schools a piece in the top five as well.
The Michigan Wolverines (33-5) gave Washington its biggest challenge of the season for top billing in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 poll, but fell short and finished 17 points behind the Huskies (35-4) in second.
Washington appeared as the first-place team on 23 ballots this week, while Michigan was the top choice for seven voters. The Wolverines' seven first-place votes are the most by any team other than Washington in a single poll so far this season.
The rest of the top five was virtually the same this week, with No. 3 Arizona (35-7) bumping Florida (34-5) down to fourth marking the only change. Alabama (35-9) came in at fifth for the second consecutive week to round out the top five spots in this week's poll.
After sitting out last week's poll, Hawai'i (36-11) returned to the rankings this week by knocking out Louisville (27-15) for the 25th and final spot. The Rainbow Wahine were the only addition to the rankings this week, while the Cardinals were the only team to fall out of the poll.
