2015 Softball Season Preview Part Five: Schedule
1/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Last season, Alabama entered the NCAA Tournament ranked third in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), which aims to rank teams not just based on wins and losses, but also on their strength of schedule. It provides a more analytical ranking of teams as opposed to the more subjective coaches and media polls. Heading into last year's tournament, six of the top 10 ranked teams in the RPI eventually made it to the Women's College World Series.
For any team planning on playing into June, a balanced but challenging schedule is a must.
"When I first started coaching," says Head Coach Patrick Murphy, "a friend of mine told me that when you put together a schedule, you should be able to beat about a third of those teams, a third of them could go either way and the last third will be a big challenge. I'm not sure if we even have a third that are guaranteed wins. Even in the pre-conference tournaments, there are no guarantees."
Alabama was ranked No. 4 in out-of-conference RPI last season, and this year's slate looks even more challenging. Overall, the schedule features 14 teams that qualified for last seasons' NCAA Tournament and eight of those are out-of-conference. The Tide will play seven of those eight out-of-conference teams within the first four weeks of the season.
"The level of parity in softball is tremendous," says Murphy. "I think it's good because all three pitchers will have to throw well early to win. They need to step it up early in the season and then once they get their legs under them, they'll get even better."
The Tide opens the season on Thursday, Feb. 5 in Mobile, Ala., against South Alabama, who is ranked No. 23 in the preseason NFCA poll and made it to the final game of last season's NCAA Regional in Tuscaloosa. Alabama will play five games in Gulf Shores, Ala., that weekend, including a game against McNeese State, who beat the Tide last season, and NCAA Tournament participant Houston.
A west coast trip in week two is highlighted by a pair of games against Stanford before Alabama returns to face NCAA Tournament participant UAB in Birmingham on Tuesday, Feb. 17. That following weekend, the Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa will feature three opponents that made the NCAA Tournament: Michigan, James Madison and Lipscomb. The Wolverines are ranked No. 8 in the preseason NFCA poll and took Florida State to three games in last season's NCAA Super Regional in Tallahassee after a thrilling NCAA Regional win at Arizona State.
The preseason schedule wraps up with a three-game series against Women's College World Series participant Louisiana at the Easton Crimson Classic on Feb. 27-March 1 in Tuscaloosa. The Ragin' Cajuns outscored perennial power Arizona, 12-4, over two Super Regional games last season though they went winless in Oklahoma City, falling to Kentucky and Oklahoma. This season, they are ranked No. 9 in the preseason NFCA poll.
"Playing against teams like Stanford, Louisiana, Michigan, James Madison and Lipscomb isn't easy," says Murphy. "Those teams are capable of beating anybody and making a run in the NCAA Tournament. This out-of-conference group looks a lot tougher than last year's, and last year we finished at No. 2 overall in the RPI. When you play those really tough teams, you actually need to win a couple, so it'll be a challenge."
Continuing the trend in college softball over the last few years, the SEC again looks to be the toughest conference, top-to-bottom, in the country. Last year, the SEC was ranked the toughest conference in the RPI and nine teams finished the season ranked in the NFCA Top 25. Those same nine teams are also ranked in the 2015 NFCA preseason Top 25: Florida (1), Alabama (3), Kentucky (6), Georgia (12), Tennessee (13), Missouri (17), LSU (19), Auburn (20) and Texas A&M (24).
Alabama will play six of those ranked SEC teams this season, including a big home series against Florida (March 21-23) in a rematch of last season's national championship. Other home series for the Tide this season include Ole Miss (March 6-8), Texas A&M (March 27-29) and Tennessee (April 23-25). Road SEC series include Georgia (March 13-15), Kentucky (April 3-5), Auburn (April 17-19) and Arkansas (May 1-3).
Fans across the country will have unprecedented access to many of these games with the launch of the SEC Network. Alabama is set to appear 12 times on the ESPN family of networks, while every home game and select SEC road contests will also be streamed online on the SEC Network +, which is available at WatchESPN.com or through the WatchESPN app. In total, the ESPN family of networks are set to air 76 regular season SEC softball games and will cover the entire SEC Tournament (May 6-9), which has been expanded from 10 teams to 12 teams season.
Increased television exposure in the past and a vast alumni fan base gives Alabama softball fan support in nearly every part of the country, and the inclusion of the SEC Network this season should only increase that.
"When I do clinics all over the country, I always get a parent or coach that tells me that they have all of our games saved on the DVR," says Murphy. "On a rainy day, the kids will go back and watch Alabama Softball. To me, that's really heartwarming to hear that. This year, it will be even better with the SEC Network. As well equipped as we are from a technical standpoint at Alabama, if the conference game of the week is rained out and we're playing at home and it's sunny, the SEC Network can pick our feed right up and put our game on TV."
All of the questions, guesses and predictions will be settled in less than two weeks when Alabama softball begins its journey on Thursday, Feb. 5 in Mobile against South Alabama.
