Jan. 20, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The defending Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Texas A&M softball team was ranked No. 5 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association preseason poll, released Tuesday.
Florida claimed the top spot, followed by the defending national champion Arizona State, Alabama, UCLA and the Aggies. Louisiana, Arizona, Michigan, Northwestern and Oklahoma round out the top 10.
"I think it's certainly a compliment to our program that we're opening up the season ranked fifth," said A&M head coach Jo Evans. "It says a lot about what we've been able to do the past few seasons, but we also recognize this is a new year and a new team and we're excited to get out there and compete against the nation's best."
No. 16 Missouri was the only other Big 12 program ranked in the top 25. Nebraska and Texas also received votes.
The USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. The first regular season poll of 2009 will be released on Feb. 10.
A&M returns nine letterwinners, including seven starters from a 2008 squad that tallied a program-best 57 wins, won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA Championship Series at the Women's College World Series.
The Aggies began practice on Monday, Jan. 19 in preparation for their season opener on Friday, Feb. 6 against Tulsa at the Aggie Softball Complex. The game is part of the Aggie Classic presented by Honey Baked Ham and features four A&M contests in two days. Season tickets are available by calling 888-99-AGGIE or by logging on to AggieAthletics.com.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
'08 Final Record |
Totals |
Last Rank |
|
1 |
Florida (14) |
70-5 |
728 |
3 |
|
2 |
Arizona State (15) |
66-5 |
691 |
1 |
|
3 |
Alabama |
58-8 |
678 |
4 |
|
4 |
UCLA |
51-9 |
638 |
5 |
|
5 |
Texas A&M |
57-10 |
553 |
2 |
|
6 |
Louisiana-Lafayette (1) |
52-15 |
544 |
6 |
|
7 |
Arizona |
41-19 |
542 |
7 |
|
8 |
Michigan |
52-8 |
527 |
9 |
|
9 |
Northwestern |
40-16 |
511 |
12 |
|
10 |
Oklahoma |
47-14 |
498 |
10 |
|
11 |
Stanford |
49-15 |
456 |
11 |
|
12 |
Tennessee |
50-16 |
302 |
14 |
|
13 |
Houston |
54-11 |
285 |
13 |
|
14 |
Fresno State |
54-13 |
280 |
15 |
|
15 |
DePaul |
51-18 |
279 |
22 |
|
16 |
Missouri |
47-17 |
270 |
19 |
|
17 |
California |
34-32 |
255 |
16 |
|
18 |
North Carolina |
50-12-1 |
222 |
20 |
|
19 |
LSU |
44-18 |
210 |
18 |
|
20 |
Virginia Tech |
49-19 |
201 |
8 |
|
21 |
Washington |
30-25-1 |
193 |
RV |
|
22 |
Georgia |
46-24 |
169 |
17 |
|
23 |
Nevada |
44-18 |
157 |
21 |
|
24 |
Long Beach State |
40-17 |
108 |
23 |
|
25 |
San Diego State |
44-17 |
99 |
24 |
Others Receiving Votes:
UMass 68, Mississippi State 46, Iowa 43, South Florida 42, Hofstra 27, Oklahoma State 19, BYU 17, Hawai'i 15, Notre Dame 12, Nebraska 8, Purdue 8, Central Florida 8, Creighton 6, Auburn 6, Oregon 4, Oregon State 4, Jacksonville State 4, East Carolina 4, Louisiana Tech 3, Texas 2, UT-Chattanooga 2. Six schools received one point apiece.
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