Jan. 27, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M softball team was tabbed 10th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Preseason Poll, released Tuesday.
The Aggies, who were ranked No. 5 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Preseason Poll, round out a very strong list of top 10 teams.
Florida was picked as the preseason favorite, followed by Alabama, the defending national champion Arizona State, UCLA and Michigan. Oklahoma was ranked sixth before Arizona, Louisiana-Lafayette and Stanford, while A&M comes into the poll at No. 10.
The Big 12 had three teams represented in the Sooners, Aggies and No. 19 Missouri. Kansas, Nebraska and Texas also received votes.
A&M's 2009 opponents appearing in the poll were No. 7 Arizona, No. 16 Houston and No. 17 LSU.
The 2009 Aggies welcome five newcomers and return nine letterwinners from a 2009 squad that advanced to the NCAA Championship Series at the Women's College World Series.
The defending Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Aggie softball team opens the regular season on Friday, Feb. 6 at the Aggie Softball Complex. A&M hosts a 25-game home slate including three tournaments. Season tickets are available now by logging on to AggieAthletics.com or by calling 1-888-99-AGGIE.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Preseason Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
2008 Record |
Points |
PVS |
|
1. |
Florida (18) |
70-5 |
497 |
3 |
|
2. |
Alabama |
58-8 |
466 |
4 |
|
3 |
Arizona State (1) |
66-3 |
432 |
1 |
|
4. |
UCLA (1) |
51-9 |
428 |
5 |
|
5 |
Michigan |
52-8 |
384 |
9 |
|
6 |
Oklahoma |
47-14 |
378 |
10 |
|
7. |
Arizona |
41-19 |
369 |
7 |
|
8. |
ULL |
52-15 |
364 |
6 |
|
9. |
Stanford |
49-15 |
321 |
13 |
|
10. |
Texas A&M |
57-10 |
309 |
2 |
|
11. |
Northwestern |
40-16 |
295 |
11 |
|
12. |
Fresno State |
54-13 |
252 |
15 |
|
13. |
Tennessee |
50-16 |
230 |
17 |
|
14. |
California |
43-27 |
203 |
14 |
|
15. |
Washington |
30-25-1 |
200 |
RV |
|
16. |
Houston |
54-11 |
188 |
12 |
|
17. |
LSU |
44-18 |
179 |
19 |
|
18. |
DePaul |
51-18 |
166 |
21 |
|
19. |
Missouri |
47-17 |
165 |
16 |
|
20. |
Long Beach St. |
42-16 |
120 |
22 |
|
21. |
North Carolina |
50-12-1 |
107 |
25 |
|
22. |
Nevada |
44-18 |
95 |
20 |
|
23. |
Georgia |
46-24 |
89 |
18 |
|
24. |
UMass |
42-12 |
86 |
23 |
|
25. |
Virginia Tech |
49-19 |
55 |
8 Â Â |
Dropped Out from 2008 Postseason Poll: San Diego State Â
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Others receiving votes: Mississippi State (20), San Diego State (19), Iowa (13), South Florida (12), Hawaii (10), Purdue (7), Oregon State (5), Kansas (4), Nebraska (4), Notre Dame (4), Texas (4), Creighton (3), Georgia Tech (3), Hofstra (3), Baylor (2), East Carolina (2), Jacksonville State (2), Oklahoma State (2), Oregon (2) and BYU (1).