ESPN.com/USA Softball Releases Top 25 Preseason Poll

Michigan and Northwestern represent the Big Ten in preseason poll

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Jan. 27, 2009

The Amateur Softball Association announced today the 2009 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 pre-season Poll. Michigan and Northwestern earned rankings of fifth and 11th, respectively.

The Wolverines prepare for the 2009 campaign after posting a 52-8 record en route to a share of the Big Ten Conference title and the program's fourth consecutive NCAA Super Regional appearance. Michigan welcomes back 14 players from the last year's squad.

The Wildcats enter this season as reigning Big Ten co-regular season and tournament champions. The ‘Cats are coming off their fourth-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament Super Regional round. Northwestern returns 14 players from a year ago.


2009 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top-25 Preseason Poll

Rank Team '08 Record Points Prev. Poll
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 Louisiana-Lafayette 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 State 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

Others receiving votes: Mississippi State (20), San Diego State (19), IOWA (13), South Florida (12), Hawai’i (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).

 


 

 

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