Softball Rankings: Week 7
3/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 22, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama returned to the top of the softball world as it claimed the number one spot in both polls released Tuesday. The Tide nabbed 16 of the 20 first-place votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and 24 of the 30 votes in the USA Today/NFCA poll.
The top two teams in the nation squared off over the weekend with then-No. 2 Alabama sweeping then-No.1 Georgia in three games, leading Alabama (29-1, 5-0 SEC) to the No. 1 ranking in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced today. Alabama was the top ranked team in week three and has been the runner-up in three of the remaining five polls this season.
Along with the 3-0 sweep, Alabama beat then-No. 24 Auburn, (6-1, 8-2), for an undefeated 5-0 SEC weekend. Georgia (23-4, 5-3 SEC) fell three spots to No. 4 after a 2-3 week which included a 2-0 record over South Carolina.
With a 4-0 record on the week, No. 2 Florida (29-1, 6-0 SEC) advanced one spot after continuing SEC play with an undefeated record, with two wins against Mississippi State and two wins against Mississippi. Florida received four first-place votes to Alabama's 16.
No. 3 Michigan (29-2) crept into the top three after a 4-1 weekend which included two wins over ranked opponents, then-No. 5 Arizona State, 1-0, and then-No. 7 Arizona, 8-0.
Washington (23-2) suffered its first loss of the season against then-No.14 Texas (24-3) and would go on to record a 4-2 weekend with its other loss to then-No.8 Oklahoma (26-7). Texas advanced four spots to crack the top 10 with a 6-0 record which included a perfect game against previously unbeaten Washington.
No. 25 Hawai'i (22-9) made the biggest fall, five spots, after posting a losing 2-4 record. For the first time all season, the top 25 teams in the nation stayed the same.
The Pac-10 Conference has the most teams in the top 10 with four followed closely by the SEC's three. The Big 12 has two teams in the top 10 while Michigan (29-2) from the Big Ten holds the remaining spot.
After sweeping previous No. 1 Georgia and rival Auburn last week, Alabama leap-frogged fellow SEC school Florida to take the top spot in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 polls for the first time since March 3, 2009, the Association announced on Tuesday.
The Crimson Tide (29-1) notched 24 of the 30 first-place votes this week, while No. 2 Florida (30-1) picked up the remaining six. Previous No. 1, Georgia (23-4), fell to third after finishing last week at 2-3.
Washington (22-2) lost its first games of the season at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., last week, forcing the Huskies out of the top five for the first time since February. With Washington falling to sixth, Michigan (29-2) and Arizona State (30-2) moved up one spot each to round out the top five positions.
For the first time this season, no teams entered or exited the poll this week. The biggest gain of the week went to Texas (24-3) who moved from 12th to eighth after going 5-0 to win the prestigious Judi Garman Classic. The biggest of the Longhorns' five wins in California came on the first day of the classic when they topped then No. 4 Washington, 12-0, in five innings.
