January 24, 2007
The Texas A&M softball team was tabbed as the 13th-ranked team in the nation by the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Preseason Poll, it was announced today.
The Aggies return 12 letterwinners from the 2006 squad that went 34-19 overall and 11-6 in Big 12 action and made their 17th postseason appearance.
The Big 12 Conference was represented by five teams in the top 25. Along with the Aggies, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Baylor earned top 25 accolades.
Over the course of the four-month season, the Aggies will face nine ranked teams in at least 16 games. Ranked opponents appearing on the Aggies?â„¢ schedule include Northwestern (4), Fresno State (21), UCLA (3), Arizona (1), Massachusetts (23), Texas (17), Oklahoma (16), Baylor (18) and Nebraska (15).
Thirteen of the Aggies?â„¢ opponents this season made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2006, with four teams, UCLA, Texas, Northwestern and Arizona advancing to the Women?â„¢s College World Series in Oklahoma City. Arizona was crowned the national champion.
A&M will open the 2007 season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. on Friday, Feb. 9. Over the span of the three-day tournament, the Aggies will face four top 25 opponents. The Aggies?â„¢ first game of the tournament is scheduled for Friday against Northwestern at 10 a.m. with a game against Fresno State to follow at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, A&M will face UCLA at 4:30 p.m. and Utah at 6:30 p.m. The Aggies will close-out the tournament on Sunday when they take on top-ranked Arizona at 12 p.m.
The Aggies and Wildcats will meet again in February as the team travels to Tucson, Ariz. for a three-game series, Feb. 23-25.
A&M kicks-off the home portion of its schedule on Friday, Feb. 16 when the Aggies host Arkansas in the opening round of the 2007 Aggie Classic at 2:30 p.m. at the Aggie Softball Complex.
Season and individual game tickets are available now by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE or logging on to www.AggieAthletics.com.
Rank, School, 2006 Record, Pts., Pvs.
Final 2006 records are shown. First-place votes are in parenthesis.
1. Arizona (23), 54-11, 737, 1
2. Tennessee (7), 61-12, 679, 3
3. UCLA, 50-9, 648, 4
4. Northwestern, 50-15, 647, 2
5. Arizona State, 53-15, 594, 6
6. Oregon State, 43-16, 579, 8
7. Alabama, 54-11, 485, 7
8. Stanford, 42-18, 481, 12
9. LSU, 55-14, 471, 11
10. California, 48-14, 436, 9
11. Michigan, 44-15, 400, 10
12. Washington, 35-25, 353, 15
13. Texas A&M, 34-19, 323, 22
14. Georgia, 54-15, 320, 13
15. Nebraska, 44-12, 280, 14
16. Oklahoma, 40-21-1, 274, 18
17. Texas, 55-9, 273, 5
18. Baylor, 38-22, 248, 20
19. Louisiana-Lafayette, 50-12, 235, 16
20. Louisville, 45-11, 211, 17
21. Fresno State, 37-19, 198, 23
22. South Florida, 50-25, 181, 18
23. Massachusetts, 41-16, 123, 24
24. Auburn, 36-22, 84, 21
25. Florida State, 44-30, 79, 25
Others Receiving Votes:
NC State 74, Cal State Fullerton 54, San Diego State 49, Florida 47, Georgia Tech 40, North Carolina 21, Southern Illinois 17, Long Beach State 15, Florida Atlantic 14, DePaul 12, BYU 11, Notre Dame 10, Hofstra 8, Kansas 5, Virginia Tech 3.