FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2011
Alabama Regains No. 1 Ranking in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The top two teams in the nation squared off over the weekend with then-No. 2 Alabama sweeping then-No.1 Georgia in three games, leading Alabama (29-1, 5-0 SEC) to the No. 1 ranking in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced today. Alabama was the top ranked team in week three and has been the runner-up in three of the remaining five polls this season.
Along with the 3-0 sweep, Alabama beat then-No. 24 Auburn, (6-1, 8-2), for an undefeated 5-0 SEC weekend. Georgia (23-4, 5-3 SEC) fell three spots to No. 4 after a 2-3 week which included a 2-0 record over South Carolina.
With a 4-0 record on the week, No.2 Florida (29-1, 6-0 SEC) advanced one spot after continuing SEC play with an undefeated record, with two wins against Mississippi State and two wins against Mississippi. Florida received four first-place votes to Alabama’s 16.
No. 3 Michigan (29-2) crept into the top three after a 4-1 weekend which included two wins over ranked opponents, then-No. 5 Arizona State, 1-0, and then-No. 7 Arizona, 8-0.
Washington (23-2) suffered its first loss of the season against then-No.14 Texas (24-3) and would go on to record a 4-2 weekend with its other loss to then-No.8 Oklahoma (26-7). Texas advanced four spots to crack the top 10 with a 6-0 record which included a perfect game against previously unbeaten Washington.
No.25 Hawaii (22-9) made the biggest fall, five spots, after posting a losing 2-4 record. For the first time all season, the Top 25 teams in the nation stayed the same.
The Pac-10 Conference has the most teams in the Top 10 with four followed closely by the SEC’s three. The Big 12 has two teams in the top ten while Michigan (29-2) from the Big Ten holds the remaining spot.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
March 22 – March 14-20, 2011 – Week Six
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous Ranking |
| 1. | Alabama (16) | 29-1 | 496 | 2 |
| 2. | Florida (4) | 29-1 | 482 | 3 |
| 3. | Michigan | 29-2 | 444 | 6 |
| 4. | Georgia | 23-4 | 434 | 1 |
| 5. | Arizona State | 30-2 | 431 | 5 |
| 6. | Washington | 23-2 | 385 | 4 |
| 7. | Oklahoma | 26-7 | 351 | 8 |
| 8. | California | 21-3 | 342 | 9 |
| 9. | Arizona | 26-6 | 337 | 7 |
| 10. | Texas | 24-3 | 308 | 14 |
| 11. | Tennessee | 23-4 | 296 | T11 |
| 12. | Stanford | 17-3 | 292 | 10 |
| T13. | Missouri | 22-3 | 273 | 13 |
| T13. | UCLA | 20-5 | 273 | T11 |
| 15. | Baylor | 24-4 | 204 | 15 |
| 16. | Oregon | 22-4 | 201 | 16 |
| 17. | Oklahoma State | 25-6 | 175 | 18 |
| 18. | Nebraska | 24-3 | 174 | 17 |
| 19. | Texas Tech | 35-1 | 119 | 22 |
| 20. | ULL | 17-10 | 105 | 19 |
| 21. | Texas A&M | 26-7 | 91 | 23 |
| 22. | Auburn | 25-4 | 81 | 24 |
| 23. | Kentucky | 19-6 | 59 | 21 |
| 24. | LSU | 17-12 | 39 | 25 |
| 25. | Hawaii | 22-9 | 32 | 20 |
Parenthesis Denotes first place votes.
Dropped Out: None
New to Poll: None
