No. 10 Ducks Hold Steady in National Polls #7
EUGENE - Coming off a Pac-12 opening series sweep of Stanford, the University of Oregon softball team (26-4, 3-0) claimed its ninth straight top-10 national ranking in the regular season’s seventh editions.
Holding steady at No. 10 in the USA Softball and NFCA versions for the second and third weeks, respectively, conference co-leaders UO and No. 4/5 California were among three top-10 ranked teams from the Pac-12 this week with 2/2 Arizona State.
Five other league members ranked top 25 nationally in the USA SB/NFCA polls this week - No. 14/12 UCLA, No. 15/16 Washington, No. 17/15 Stanford, No. 21/17 Arizona and No. -/23 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. 12/13 UCLA, No. 17/17 Washington, No. 15/16 Stanford, No. 16/22 Arizona and No. -/24 Oregon State.
Six other of the Ducks' 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. 12/13 LSU, No. 13/14 Michigan, No. 22/18 Hawai’i and No. 19/24 Nebraska.
Overall at the top of the USA SB/NFCA polls, No. 1/1 Oklahoma, No. 2/2 Arizona State and No. 3/3 Florida held steady for the third straight week.
No. 7/4 Alabama dropped one spot in the USA Softball edition, and No. 9/9 Texas A&M fell five and four spots respectively, in the USA Softball edition and NFCA version after it was swept at No. 5/6 Tennessee (8-6, 8-6, 5-4) last week.
Altogether, Oregon has now been ranked for 48 straight polls by USA Softball and 43 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, 3/26 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.
Complete NFCA and USA Softball polls are available at the https://nfca.org/index.php/polls and http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=7248 URL addresses.
Last week, the Ducks took the season series from the Cardinal for the third straight season and staked its first sweep since 1995, thanks to its 4-3, 3-2 and 10-3 victories.
Looking ahead, Oregon next heads to returning Super Regional advancer and No. 15 Washington this Thursday-Saturday, March 28-30.
Duck fans can watch Friday's 4 p.m. second game live on the Pac-12 TV Network.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
https://nfca.org/index.php/polls
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1 Oklahoma (27) 28-2 769 1
*2 Arizona State (1) 31-3 734 2
*3 Florida (3) 31-3 723 3
4 Alabama 29-4 652 4
*5 California 26-3 647 6
6 Tennessee 27-6 629 8
7 Missouri 17-2 601 7
8 Texas 29-4 542 9
9 Texas A&M 26-5 526 5
>10 Oregon 25-4 514 10
11 Louisville 26-5 464 11
*12 UCLA 24-6 417 12
*13 LSU 27-6 413 13
*14 Michigan 24-7 383 14
*15 Stanford 22-7 324 15
*16 Washington 23-8 293 17
*17 Arizona 21-9 253 16
*18 Hawai'i 25-7 226 20
19 Tulsa 26-6-1 215 19
20 Baylor 26-7 205 18
21 Kentucky 23-8 179 21
22 Georgia 25-7 126 23
*23 Oregon State 22-5 91 24
*24 Nebraska 22-6 67 25
25 South Alabama 27-5 40 RV
Others Receiving Votes: Virginia Tech (26), Notre Dame (6), USC Upstate (4), Iowa (3), Florida State (2), McNeese State (1).
Dropped Out: No. 22 Virginia Tech (18-6)
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 (17) 28-2 494 1
*2. Arizona State (1) 31-3 469 2
*3. Florida 31-3 457 3
*4. California (2) 26-3 440 5
5. Tennessee 27-6 416 8
6. Missouri 17-2 389 7
7. Alabama 29-4 382 6
8. Texas 29-4 355 9
9. Texas A&M 26-5 345 4
>10. Oregon 25-4 331 10
11. Louisville 26-5 317 11
*12. LSU 27-6 275 12
*13. Michigan 24-7 254 14
*14. UCLA 24-6 248 13
*15. Washington 23-8 188 17
16. Baylor 26-7 181 15
*17. Stanford 22-7 164 16
18. Tulsa 26-6-1 159 18
*19. Nebraska 22-6 126 20
20. Kentucky 23-8 120 21
*21. Arizona 21-9 80 22
*22. Hawaii 25-7 76 23
23. Georgia 25-7 71 24
24. Virginia Tech 18-6 47 19
25. South Alabama 27-5 43 25
Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin (38), *Oregon State (9), Iowa (8), Florida State (7), North Carolina (3), SC Upstate (3), Minnesota (2), Louisiana-Lafayette (1), North Carolina State (1), *San Diego State (1)
Dropped Out: - / New to Poll: -
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2013
- www.GoDucks.com -
