Softball Rankings: Week 9
4/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 5, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama softball team kept its stranglehold atop the collegiate softball rankings as it checked in at No. 1 in both polls for the third consecutive week. The Crimson Tide was a unanimous No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll and earned 29 of 30 first-place votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll.
Alabama (37-2, 12-1 SEC) remains the top team in collegiate softball for the third consecutive week. After a successful road campaign that resulted in a win over College of Charleston and three over South Carolina, the Crimson Tide became the first team this season to sweep the No. 1 votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, released today by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America.
Georgia (33-4, 8-3 SEC) held at No. 2 for the second consecutive week while Arizona State (35-3, 2-1 Pac-10) moved to its highest ranking of the year, No. 3, with a 2-1 road trip to then-No. 8 California (22-6, 1-2 Pac-10). Michigan dropped a spot to No. 4 with an extra-innings loss to Indiana. Arizona reentered the top five with an 8-0 (five), 6-1 and 2-0 homestand against then-No. 12 Stanford (24-7, 0-3 Pac-10). Stanford is now 14.
Rounding out the top 10 are No. 6 Washington (27-3, 2-1 Pac-10), No. 7 Texas (21-3, 4-0 Big 12), No. 8 Tennessee (29-6, 7-4 SEC), No. 9 Cal and No. 10 UCLA (26-5, 3-0 Pac-10), a team that has been out of the top 10 since March 15. Texas, which swept then-No. 18 Oklahoma State (29-9, 1-3 Big 12) on the road, was in the top 10 only two previous times this year, ranking No. 9 last week and No. 10 on March 22.
Florida tumbled out of the top 10 for the first time this year after being swept on the road then-No. 23 Kentucky (25-7, 11-3 SEC). The No. 11 Gators, ranked No. 1 in the March 8 poll and receiving No. 1 votes as recently as March 22, are on a six-game losing skid after being swept by Georgia last week. Kentucky improved to No. 18 with the 10-2 (six), 7-6 and 9-2 wins.
For the third week in a row, Alabama is the No. 1 team in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll, according to a release issued by the Association on Tuesday.
The Crimson Tide (37-2) put together its second consecutive SEC sweep last week by taking three games on the road at South Carolina, while also winning a midweek contest at the College of Charleston.
Alabama garnered 29 of the 30 first-place votes this week, while No. 3 Arizona State (35-3) picked up the remaining top vote. Georgia (32-4) remained second this week, while Michigan (33-3) dropped one spot to fourth and Texas (31-3) moved up three places from eighth to round out the top five. This week's ranking of the Longhorns marks their first appearance in the top five since being ranked second in the last regular season poll of 2006.
After sweeping then 20th-ranked Hawai`i last week, Fresno State became the only new entrant into this week's rankings. The Bulldogs (22-8) returned to the poll at 23rd this week after a four-week absence, pushing Hawai`i (25-12) out of the top 25 for the first time this season in the process.
