Ducks Cap Season Top 15 in Both National Polls
* Final season and career stats are available at the link above.
EUGENE – Wrapping up another of its most successful seasons ever, the University of Oregon softball team (42-16, 11-10) was voted top 15 in the season’s final national polls for the second straight year.
The Ducks were tabbed 14th and 15th by USA Softball and the NFCA – its 13th and 11th top-15 sightings this year, respectively. For comparison's sake, UO was tabbed 14th in both preseason polls four months ago and likewise at the end of the 2010 season.
Among this week's two editions, 10 Duck foes were ranked top 25 (USA SB / NFCA) - Arizona State (1/1), Florida (2/2), Alabama (3/3), California (5/5), Stanford (10/10), Arizona (11/11), Texas A&M (13/14), Washington (15/12), UCLA (20/19) and Louisiana-Lafayette (25/23).
Two other Duck opponents – BYU and Penn State - received votes in both polls.
Oregon has now been ranked for 27 straight editions by USA Softball and 20 straight polls by the NFCA. UO's week-by-week USA SB/ NFCA rankings this year follow: 6/15 (14/15), 5/17 (11/12), 5/10 (11/14), 5/3 (12/17), 4/26 (16/19), 4/19 (19/21), 4/12 (17/17), 4/5 (15/16), 3/30 (14/15), 3/23 (15/16), 3/16 (16/15), 3/9 (15/14), 3/2 (13/13), 2/22 (13/13), 2/15 (14/14), Preseason (14/14).
Overall in both editions, Pac-10 champion Arizona State ranked first for the fifth straight version after it won its second national title last week and the Pac-10’s 24th in 30 years of the event.
More information on the NFCA and USA Softball polls is available at the http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1 and http://www.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=5398 URL addresses.
Oregon capped its season three weeks ago with its second straight (and ever) Super Regional trip and was edged at eventual NCAA runner-up and then-No. 3 Florida by scores of 9-1 and 7-0.
The week before, the tourney's 13th-seeded Ducks claimed their second straight regional title thanks to wins over Albany (3-1), Fordham (2-0) and host Penn State (3-1).
In early May, Oregon ended its regular season with one of its greatest conference runs ever, and won its last four series against the ‘Conference of Champions’. In that span, UO sported 2-1 marks against last year’s NCAA champion and then-No.12 UCLA, at last year’s NCAA runner-up and then-No. 9 Arizona, and vs. then-No. 10 Stanford, and also swept rival Oregon State for the first time since 1994.
Oregon’s third-place tie in the Pac-10 was its best since the Pac-10 expanded to eight teams in 1993, and its second-best league record ever after its 13-7, runner-up placing in 1989 (also the year of UO’s WCWS trip).
Among other league notes, Oregon beat six league rivals for the first time since 2004 when second-year head coach Mike White served as a Duck assistant. In early April, Oregon one-hit eventual national champion and then-NCAA batting leader Arizona State, 2-1, and tied its largest winning margin in the Duck-Husky series with its 8-0 win at then-No. 6 Washington.
Oregon also celebrated its third-most wins and third-best winning percentage ever (.724) after it posted 12 wins over top-20 teams and 16 victories against NCAA qualifiers. Its season-ending schedule RPI ranked 15th among the 289 programs nationwide and included 29 games against tourney teams (including four World Series qualifiers, three more Super Regional advancers and nine more tournament invitees).
NATIONAL POLLS (6/15) – Week #16
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=3208
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1. Arizona State 59-6 500 1
*2. Florida 56-13 480 T5
*3. Alabama 53-11 459 3
4. Baylor 47-15 429 15
*5. California 45-13 417 T5
6. Missouri 53-10 414 4
7. Oklahoma 43-19 375 T12
8. Oklahoma State 40-20 332 25
9. Georgia 51-14 329 8
*10. Stanford 42-17 308 T12
*11. Arizona 43-18 271 10
12. Kentucky 40-16 248 21
*13. Texas A&M 44-15 242 17
>14. Oregon 42-16 231 11
*15. Washington 37-15 228 14
16. Tennessee 49-12 222 7
17. Michigan 53-6 195 2
18. Houston 44-18 169 RV
19. Texas 46-10 154 9
*20. UCLA 36-19 126 16
21. Nebraska 41-14 87 20
22. LSU 40-18 63 22
23. Notre Dame 46-11 62 19
24. Georgia Tech 45-12 37 18
*25. La.-Lafayette 51-11 26 24
Others Receiving Votes: Tulsa (22); *BYU (20); Auburn (12); DePaul (10); Louisville (9); San Diego State (9); East Carolina (8); *Penn State (4); Florida State (1); and Syracuse (1)
New to Poll: Houston; Dropped Out: Auburn
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2011
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1 Arizona St. 60-6 750 1
*2 Florida 56-13 720 3
*3 Alabama 53-11 686 4
4 Baylor 47-15 653 17
*5 California 45-13 618 7
6 Missouri 53-10 603 8
7 Oklahoma 43-19 568 13
8 Oklahoma St. 42-20 541 22
9 Georgia 51-14 489 9
*10 Stanford 42-17 459 11
*11 Arizona 43-18 439 10
*12 Washington 37-15 404 15
13 Kentucky 40-16 381 23
*14 Texas A&M 44-15 363 18
>15 Oregon 42-16 349 12
16 Houston 44-18 321 NR
17 Michigan 53-6 249 2
18 Tennessee 49-12 234 5
*19 UCLA 36-19 205 14
20 Texas 46-10 163 6
21 Nebraska 41-14 124 16
22 LSU 40-18 109 20
*23 La.-Lafayette 51-11 78 25
24 Tulsa 46-15 50 RV
24 DePaul 40-15 50 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Louisville 31, Georgia Tech 27, *BYU 15, Auburn 13, San Diego St. 13, East Carolina 12, Texas Tech 9, Notre Dame 7, Florida St. 6, *Penn St. 4, Syracuse 3, Maryland 2, Jacksonville 1, New Mexico St. 1
Dropped Out: No. 19 Georgia Tech, No. 21 Auburn, No. 24 Notre Dame
-The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches representing each conference. First-place votes are in parentheses.
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2011
- www.GoDucks.com -
