Ducks Picked No. 10 in NFCA and USA Softball in Polls #6
EUGENE - Heading into its Pac-12 opener this weekend at Howe Field, the University of Oregon softball team (23-4) claimed its eighth straight top-10 national ranking in the regular season’s sixth editions.
Holding steady in the NFCA version, the Ducks dropped one spot in the USA Softball edition.
Among Pac-12 teams, No. 10/10 UO was one of three that stood top 10 with a pair of fellow WCWS returnees - No. 2/2 Arizona State and No. 6/5 California.
Overall, Oregon was one of eight league members that ranked top 25 nationally in the USA SB/NFCA polls this week with No. 12/13 UCLA, No. 17/17 Washington, No. 15/16 Stanford, No. 16/22 Arizona and No. -/24 Oregon State.
For comparison's sake, a complete list of Pac-12 rankings from the previous USA SB/NFCA edition follows: No. 2/2 Arizona State, No 5/6 California No. 9/10 Oregon, No. 12/12 UCLA, No. 16/18 Washington, No. 18/16 Stanford, No. 19/14 Arizona and No. -/23 Oregon State
Six other Duck non-conference foes in 2013 were also tabbed top 25 this week by the USA SB/NFCA – No. 1/1 Oklahoma, No. 3/3 Florida, No. 13/12 LSU, No. 14/14 Michigan, No. 20/23 Hawai’i and No. 25/20 Nebraska.
Overall in the top five, No. 1/1 Oklahoma, No. 2/2 Arizona State, No. 3/3 Florida and No. 4/6 Alabama held steady for the second straight week. No. 5/4 Texas A&M improved two spots in the NFCA version and one in the USA Softball edition after it swept Arkansas last week (2-1, 7-3, 9-1).
Altogether, Oregon has now been ranked for 47 straight polls by USA Softball and 42 by the NFCA, and its week-by-week USA SB/ NFCA rankings in that stretch follow: 2013 – Preseason 6/5, 2/12 7/9, 2/19 9/11, 2/26 12/10, 3/5 8/9, 3/12 9/10, 3/19 10/10. 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.
Last Wednesday, the Ducks kicked off home action at Howe Field this season with 10-0 and 4-0 wins over New Mexico.
This weekend, the returning third-place Pac-12 finisher Ducks open league play at home vs. No. 15 Stanford (22-5) on Saturday-Monday, March 23-25.
The teams will play single games on Saturday (2 p.m.), Sunday (3 p.m.) and Monday (noon), and Saturday's contest will be televised live by the Pac-12 Network.
A host of ticket and fan promotions are slated, and more information follows:
- Saturday (3/23), 2 p.m. – Bi-Mart Family Day: Show a Bi-Mart card at the door, and 2 adults & 2 kids get a $10 ticket package. 2013 Duck Softball mini-posters will also be available at the marketing/promotions table.
- Sunday (3/24), 3 p.m. – Scout Day: Boy & Girl Scouts get $2 G.A. tickets if they wear their scout uniforms. Fans can also get a $1 ticket with a ticket stub from the baseball game the same day that starts at noon.
- Monday (3/25), Noon – Hop in the Park: Kids are invited to a post-game Howe Field Easter egg hunt.
THIS WEEK’S NATIONAL POLLS #6 (3/13)
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
https://nfca.org/index.php/polls
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1 Oklahoma (31) 27-1 775 1
*2 Arizona State 29-2 735 2
*3 Florida 27-3 708 3
4 Alabama 26-3 678 4
5 Texas A&M 26-2 632 7
*6 California 23-3 619 5
7 Missouri 15-2 585 8
8 Tennessee 23-6 573 6
9 Texas 27-4 530 9
>10 Oregon 23-4 503 10
11 Louisville 23-3 467 11
*12 UCLA 23-4 426 12
*13 LSU 23-5 413 13
*14 Michigan 21-7 357 15
*15 Stanford 22-5 335 16
*16 Arizona 20-8 256 14
*17 Washington 22-7 249 18
18 Baylor 25-5 233 19
19 Tulsa 23-5 204 21
*20 Hawai'i 22-7 197 20
21 Kentucky 19-7 171 17
22 Virginia Tech 18-4 115 RV
23 Georgia 21-7 90 25
*24 Oregon State 21-5 69 23
*25 Nebraska 18-5 52 RV
Others Receiving Votes: South Alabama (46), Louisiana-Lafayette (20), Mississippi State (15), Iowa (7), McNeese State (6), USC Upstate (6), North Carolina (1), Florida State (1), USF (1).
Dropped Out: No. 22 Louisiana-Lafayette (19-11), No. 24 North Carolina (19-10)
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
-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 2013
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=7248
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1. Oklahoma (20) 27-1 500 1
*2. Arizona State 29-2 474 2
*3. Florida 27-3 444 3
4. Texas A&M 26-2 432 5
*5. California 23-3 425 4
6. Alabama 26-3 398 6
7. Missouri 15-2 374 8
8. Tennessee 23-6 367 7
9. Texas 27-4 340 10
>10. Oregon 23-4 333 9
11. Louisville 23-3 294 11
*12. LSU 23-5 279 13
*13. UCLA 23-4 251 12
*14. Michigan 21-7 240 14
15. Baylor 25-5 213 15
*16. Stanford 22-5 186 18
*17. Washington 22-7 164 16
18. Tulsa 23-5 157 20
19. Virginia Tech 18-4 139 T21
*20. Nebraska 18-5 105 T21
21. Kentucky 19-7 104 17
*22. Arizona 20-8 102 19
*23. Hawaii 22-7 56 23
24. Georgia 21-7 39 RV
25. South Alabama 23-5 20 RV
Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin (19), *Oregon State (17), Iowa (15), SC Upstate (8), Mississippi State (4), *San Diego State (1)
New to Poll: Georgia, South Alabama
Dropped Out: North Carolina, Louisiana-Lafayette
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2013
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