USA SOFTBALL FEBRUARY 15 POLL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 15, 2011
UCLA overtakes Arizona atop the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll
OKLAHOMA CITY — Behind an undefeated weekend hosting the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, UCLA has reclaimed the top spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced today. UCLA received 13 first place votes after Week 1 of action with No. 2 Arizona, No. 3 Alabama and No. 5 Florida splitting the other seven votes.
The Bruins, last ranked at No. 1 in June 2010 following their championship title at the NCAA Women’s College World Series, started their 2011 campaign with back-to-back wins over Utah State, 19-0, and North Dakota State, 7-0, on Feb. 11. The team also notched a 15-2 win over North Dakota State, a 10-2 win over Central Florida and an 8-2 win over San Diego State to pull up one spot from the pre-season poll released last month.
With an 11-1 loss to No. 6 Oklahoma in five innings at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., Arizona dropped to No. 2 in the poll. The Wildcats defeated Indiana 4-0, Utah 8-3, Nebraska 6-1, then No. 19 Texas A&M 6-3 and Cal Poly 14-0 (five), which helped the team five No. 1 votes.
Alabama again garnered one first place vote but remained No. 3. At the Hibbett/Easton All-Alabama Classic, the Crimson Tide went 5-0 with an 8-0 win over Samford, 18-0 win over Alabama A&M in five, 6-0 win over Jacksonville State, 6-0 win over South Alabama and 9-1 win over Troy in six.
No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 8 Michigan all retained their ranking from the pre-season poll with all but Oklahoma going undefeated. Arizona State improved one spot to No. 9 by beating then No. 22 Oklahoma State 1-0 and Oklahoma 4-3 at the Kajikawa Classic. The Sun Devils lost 3-1 to Utah in eight innings but still overtook Missouri, which dropped to No. 10 following a bye week.
No. 21 Texas Tech, No. 22 San Diego State, No. 24 Kentucky and No. 25 DePaul entered the rankings for the first time this season, replacing BYU, Florida State, Illinois and Ohio state, all of which went 2-3.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
February 15 – February 7-13, 2011
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous Ranking |
| 1. | UCLA (13) | 5-0 | 484 | 2 |
| 2. | Arizona (5) | 5-1 | 459 | 1 |
| 3. | Alabama (1) | 5-0 | 455 | 3 |
| 4. | Georgia | 5-0 | 436 | 4 |
| 5. | Florida (1) | 5-0 | 427 | 5 |
| 6. | Oklahoma | 5-1 | 394 | 6 |
| 7. | Tennessee | 4-0 | 379 | 7 |
| 8. | Michigan | 5-0 | 346 | 8 |
| 9. | Arizona State | 5-1 | 329 | 10 |
| 10. | Missouri | DNP | 319 | 9 |
| 11. | Washington | 5-0 | 300 | 11 |
| 12. | Hawaii | 5-0 | 284 | 13 |
| 13. | Texas | 5-0 | 244 | 15 |
| 14. | Oregon | 5-1 | 229 | 14 |
| 15. | California | 3-1 | 223 | 12 |
| 16. | LSU | 6-0 | 221 | 16 |
| 17. | Georgia Tech | 5-0 | 187 | 17 |
| 18. | Stanford | 4-1 | 167 | 18 |
| 19. | ULL | 5-0 | 164 | 21 |
| 20. | Oklahoma State | 4-1 | 113 | 22 |
| 21. | Texas Tech | 5-0 | 66 | RV |
| 22. | San Diego State | 4-1 | 60 | RV |
| 23. | Texas A&M | 2-3 | 34 | 19 |
| 24. | Kentucky | 4-1 | 33 | RV |
| 25. | DePaul | 4-1 | 23 | RV |
Parenthesis Denotes first place votes.
Dropped Out: BYU, Florida State, Illinois, Ohio State
New to Poll: Texas Tech, San Diego State, Kentucky, DePaul
Others receiving votes: Nebraska (17), North Carolina (17), UMASS (16), Baylor (14), BYU (13), Hofstra (11), Florida State (11), Ohio State (6), Oregon State (6), Auburn (4), Fresno State (3), Notre Dame (3), Illinois (2), Utah (1)