Ducks Soar to No. 4 and No. 6 in National Polls #11
EUGENE - This week, the Pac-12 leading University of Oregon softball team (38-6, 13-2) improved a position in both the USA Softball and NFCA national polls released Tuesday.
The No. 4 Ducks logged their highest ranking ever in the USA Softball edition after they matched their previous best last week (fifth) and in the preseason.
In the NFCA version, UO also climbed a spot to No. 6 – its second-best of the season behind its preseason No. 5 slot.
No. 4/6 UO was one of three top-10 ranked teams in the Pac-12 with a pair of fellow WCWS returnees - No. 5/5 Arizona State and No. 10/10 California.
Overall, Oregon was one of seven league members that ranked top 25 nationally in the USA SB/NFCA polls this week with No. 13/13 Washington, No. 15/17 Stanford, No. 16/16 UCLA and No. -/23 Arizona.
For comparison's sake, a complete list of Pac-12 rankings from the previous USA SB/NFCA edition follows: No. 3/2 Arizona State, No. 5/7 Oregon, No. 10/10 California, No. 14/14 Washington, No. 15/16 Stanford, No. 19/18 UCLA and No. 25/22 Arizona.
Six other Duck non-conference foes in 2013 were also tabbed top 25 this week by USA SB/NFCA – No. 1/1 Oklahoma, No. 3/2 Florida, No. 9/9 Michigan, No. 12/12 LSU, No. 16/20 Nebraska and No. 20/14 Hawai’i.
Altogether, No. 1/1 Oklahoma remained atop the national rankings, and the remaining top-five teams included No. 2/3 Tennessee, No. 3/2 Florida, No. 4/6 Oregon, No. 5/5/ Arizona State and No. 6/4 Alabama.
The past four seasons, Oregon has now been ranked for 55 straight polls by USA Softball and 50 by the NFCA, and its week-by-week USA SB/ NFCA rankings in that stretch follow: 2013 (12 weeks-USA SB / 12 weeks-NFCA) – 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, 4/2 9/10, 4/9 6/7, 4/16 5/7, 4/23 4/6. 2012 (16/16) - 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 (16/16) - 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 (11/6) - 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; 5/10 21st-t/22nd; 6/15 14th/14th.
In this week’s NCAA RPI rankings, UO held steady at fourth overall. Oregon stood tops in the Pac-12, ahead of #8 Washington, #12 California, #13 Arizona State, #18 Stanford, #21 UCLA, #28 Arizona, #36 Oregon State and #61 Utah.
This week, UO heads to 11-time national champion and No. 19 UCLA (30-15, 7-11) for a three-game set at Easton Stadium on Friday-Sunday, April 26-28.
Next week, Oregon returns home for its final home action of the regular season.
The Ducks first host Seattle for a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 1 at 1 p.m., then welcome Oregon State, Friday-Sunday, May 3-5.
All three games from the Civil War series will be televised live by the Pac-12 Network, and the 1 p.m. finale will feature a special pre-game Senior Day ceremony.
THIS WEEK’S NATIONAL POLLS #11 (4/23)
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll
https://nfca.org/index.php/polls
Rk Team Record Totals Prev
*1 Oklahoma (27) 39-3 767 1
*2 Florida (4) 45-5 746 3
3 Tennessee 42-6 693 5
4 Alabama 40-7 665 4
*5 Arizona State 39-7 648 2
>6 Oregon 38-6 622 7
7 Texas 39-6 609 6
8 Louisville 42-6 573 8
*9 Michigan 39-7 531 9
*10 California 35-9 489 10
11 Missouri 26-7 465 12
*12 LSU 37-11 430 11
*13 Washington 34-13 392 14
*14 Hawai'i 37-8 366 15
15 Texas A&M 35-12 307 13
*16 UCLA 30-15 299 18
*17 Stanford 29-15 256 16
18 South Alabama 40-7 236 20
19 Kentucky 34-14 226 17
*20 Nebraska 34-10 203 21
21 Baylor 34-11 153 19
22 Louisiana Lafayette 34-11 126 25
*23 Arizona 28-19 80 22
24 USF 37-13 67 24
25 Tulsa 33-13-1 34 23
Others Receiving Votes: Florida State (22), Wisconsin (18), Arkansas (15), Georgia (8), Hofstra (6), North Carolina (4), *James Madison (4), Mississippi State (4), UAB (4), USC Upstate (3), Houston (2), Notre Dame (1), *Oregon State (1).
Dropped Out: None
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 (16) 39-3 496 1
2. Tennessee (4) 42-6 482 2
*3. Florida 45-5 447 4
>4. Oregon 38-6 444 5
*5. Arizona State 39-7 406 3
6. Alabama 40-7 388 6
T7. Texas 39-6 378 7
T7. Louisville 42-6 378 8
*9. Michigan 39-7 350 9
*10. California 35-9 309 10
11. Missouri 26-7 308 11
*12. LSU 37-11 278 12
*13. Washington 34-13 269 14
14. Baylor 34-11 188 16
*15. Stanford 29-15 183 15
*T16. Nebraska 34-10 173 18
*T16. UCLA 30-15 173 19
18. Texas A&M 35-12 162 13
19. Kentucky 34-14 144 17
*20. Hawaii 37-8 127 20
21. South Alabama 40-7 122 21
22. Florida State 37-15 77 23
23. Georgia 34-15 56 RV
24. South Florida 37-13 37 24
25. Arkansas 30-17 29 RV
Others Receiving Votes: Tulsa (27), Louisiana-Lafayette (19), UAB (15), North Carolina (14), Wisconsin (6), SC Upstate (5), *Arizona (3), Iowa (3), Minnesota (3), Ball State (1)
New to Poll: Georgia, Arkansas
Dropped Out: Tulsa, Arizona, North Carolina
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
* Denotes Duck opponents in 2013
- www.GoDucks.com -
