No. 5 Ducks Post Best-Ever Rankings to Cap Season
EUGENE – The University of Oregon softball team (45-18, Pac-12: 13-9
(3rd) capped arguably its greatest season with its best-ever national rankings
Tuesday.
The Ducks were tabbed No. 5 in both the USA Softball and
NFCA season-ending polls, and climbed seven positions in each from their previous mid-May rankings.
UO was one of eight league members that ranked top
25 nationally this week along with No. 3/3 California, No. 4/4 Arizona State,
No. 13/13 Arizona, No. 14/14 Washington, No. 20/21 Stanford, No. 21/20
UCLA and No. -/25 Oregon State.
Glancing at both polls, 12 Duck foes
this season were ranked top 25 (USA Softball/ NFCA), and others
included national champion and No. 1/1 Alabama, No. 7/6 Tennessee, No. 11/11 Missouri, No. 12/9 Texas and
No. 25/24 North Carolina. Four other Duck opponents – Baylor, BYU,
Northwestern and San Diego State – received votes in at least one poll.
Compared
to the previous edition, Alabama moved up two positions back into the
top spot after it won the best-of-three Women’s College World Series. The Tide captured its first national title over the former No. 4-ranked and now No. 2 Oklahoma last
week in Oklahoma City.
For comparison's sake, a complete list of
the Pac-12's teams rankings from the previous edition follows: No. 1/1
California, No. 2/2 Arizona State, No. 14/15 UCLA, No. 16/17 Arizona,
No. 17/15 Stanford, No. 18/18 Washington and No. 24/- Oregon State.
Oregon
has now been ranked for 42 straight editions by USA Softball and 35
straight polls by the NFCA. UO's week-by-week USA SB/ NFCA rankings in
that stretch follow: 2012 - Preseason 11th/16th, 2/14 19/19, 2/21 21/19,
2/28 18/18, 3/6 15/18; 3/13 14/17; 3/20 15/17; 3/27 16/17; 4/3 17/18;
4/10 15/19; 4/17 14/18; 4/25 15/16; 5/2 12/13; 5/9 12/13; 5/16 12/12;
6/12 5/5. 2011 - Preseason 14th/14th, 2/15 14th/14th, 2/22 13th/13th,
3/2 13th/13th, 3/9 15th/14th, 3/16 16th/15th, 3/23 15th/16th, 3/30
14th/15th, 4/5 15th/16th, 4/12 17th/17th, 4/19 19th/21th, 4/26
16th/19th, 5/3 12th/17th, 5/10 11th/14th, 5/17 11th/12th, 6/15
14th/15th. 2010 - 3/8 25th/-; 3/15 25th/-; 3/22 21st/-; 3/29 21st/ RV;
4/5 17th/ RV; 4/12 17th/23rd; 4/19 18th/20th; 4/26 19th/20th; 5/3
20th/22nd; 5/5 20th/22nd; 5/10 21st-t/22nd; 6/15 14th/14th.
More
information on the USA Softball and NFCA polls are available at the
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=6632 and
https://nfca.org/index.php/component/nfca/?top25=1&list=1&year=2012&pdiv=div1
URL addresses.
Oregon was rewarded for racking up its
second-most wins ever (45) in a 63-game season, while its all-time high
came in a 72-game campaign in 1989 (54).
During the Pac-12
slate, UO finished third with a 13-9 record and beat all eight rivals
under the guidance of head coach Mike White. The third-year mentor
became the second Duck to lead UO to back-to-back, top-three league finishes since the league expanded to eight teams in 1994.
Under
White, Oregon is now 12-7 in the postseason since 2010, including a 6-3 mark
this season.
The past month, the Ducks went 3-0 in the NCAA Regional in Eugene thanks to wins vs. Portland State and BYU (twice).
The following weekend, the Ducks registered their first-ever NCAA Super Regional victories en route to a 2-1 mark at #6 seed Texas.
Two weekends ago, UO wrapped up its second-ever
World Series trip (and first since 1989) with a 3-1 win over #5 seed
Tennessee sandwiched between a 3-1 loss to #2 seed and returning
national champion Arizona State and 6-3 loss to #1 seed California.
UO also went 25-15 against NCAA tourney advancers, and 16-13 vs. top-25 teams this year.
NATIONAL POLLS (6/12)
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=3208
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
* 1. Alabama (20) 60-8 500 3
2. Oklahoma 54-10 480 4
*3. California 58-7 459 1
*4. Arizona State 53-11 441 2
>5. Oregon 45-18 414 12
6. LSU 40-25 395 RV
*7. Tennessee 52-14 389 5
8. South Florida 50-14 354 22
9. Louisiana-Lafayette 53-6 303 10
10. Georgia 45-17 302 11
*11. Missouri 47-14 297 9
*12. Texas 47-13 294 8
*13. Arizona 38-19 233 15
*14. Washington 39-19 223 18
15. Michigan 42-17 216 19
16. Florida 48-13 196 6
17. Hofstra 42-15 187 NR
18. Louisville 55-5 171 7
19. Texas A&M 41-18 141 13
*20. Stanford 40-19 89 17
*21. UCLA 36-20 68 14
22. Florida State 47-16 52 20
23. Hawaii 44-9 47 16
24. Syracuse 43-16 46 RV
*25. North Carolina 43-15 39 21
Others
receiving votes: Texas Tech (35); *Oregon State (34); *Baylor (16);
Georgia Tech (13); Notre Dame (11); *San Diego State (10); Virginia Tech
(9); Arkansas (7); *Northwestern (6); Tulsa (6); Kentucky (5); BYU (4);
Texas State (4); South Alabama (4); UMass (1)
Dropped Out: -Texas Tech (23); Oregon State (24); Tulsa (25)
New to Poll: - LSU (RV); Hofstra (-); Syracuse (RV)
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2012
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
* 1 Alabama (28) 60-8 748 3
2 Oklahoma (2) 54-10 722 4
*3 California 58-7 681 1
*4 Arizona St. 53-11 666 2
>5 Oregon 45-18 622 12
*6 Tennessee 45-17 590 5
7 LSU 40-25 556 RV
8 USF 50-14 526 19
*9 Texas 47-13 484 8
10 Georgia 45-17 464 11
*11 Missouri 47-14 431 10
12 La.-Lafayette 53-6 409 7
*13 Arizona 38-19 360 17
*14 Washington 39-19 345 18
15 Michigan 42-17 324 21
16 Hofstra 42-15 300 NR
17 Louisville 55-5 282 9
18 Florida 48-11 258 6
19 Texas A&M 41-18 222 14
*20 UCLA 36-20 173 15
*21 Stanford 40-19 150 16
22 Hawai‘i 44-9 129 13
23 Syracuse 43-16 77 25
*24 North Carolina 43-15 58 22
*25 Oregon St. 36-23 36 RV
Others
Receiving Votes: Notre Dame 22, Florida St. 17, *Northwestern 16, Texas
Tech 16, *BYU 12, Kentucky 11, *Baylor 9, Arkansas 8, Virginia Tech 6,
Tulsa 4;
Dropped Out: No. 20 Florida St., No. 21 Texas Tech, No. 23 Baylor
-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 2012
