4-19-2011 ESPN Poll Ranks Michigan #1

Michigan ousts Arizona State from top of ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll

OKLAHOMA CITY — Michigan is the No. 1 team in collegiate softball for the first time this season. The Wolverines (39-3, 7-1 Big Ten) finished five points ahead of Arizona State, last week’s No. 1 team, in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll released today by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America.

Michigan is the first team from the Big Ten Conference to hold the coveted No. 1 spot in 2011, an honor only held by Pacific-10 (Pac-10) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools this season. Teams that previously held the No. 1 spot this season are Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Florida, Georgia and UCLA.

Michigan defeated Western Michigan 6-1, Central Michigan 3-0 and Illinois 8-6 and 9-7 in Week 10, earning the Maize and Blue eight No. 1 votes for the second consecutive week. Arizona State (39-5, 6-3 Pac-10) claimed the most first-place votes, 11, but it was not enough for the Sun Devils to remain on top after a 4-1 loss to then-No. 11 UCLA.

Alabama (41-5, 15-4 SEC) remained at No. 3. Georgia (39-6, 14-5 SEC), claiming one first-place vote, tied with Tennessee (38-6, 15-4 SEC) at No. 4. Georgia moved up a spot from last week while Tennessee jumped two spots, entering the Top 5 for the first time in 2011.

Texas (37-4, 9-0 Big 12) dropped from fourth to No. 6 with a 1-0 loss to Stephen F. Austin. Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 7 Arizona (36-8, 7-2 Pac-10), No. 8 Missouri (33-5, 9-1 Big 12), No. 9 Florida (37-7, 13-6 SEC) and No. 10 Washington (30-6, 5-4 Pac-10). Missouri improved a spot by outlasting then-No. 14 Oklahoma (33-13, 6-5 Big 12) in two extra inning contests. Washington dropped two spots with 13-5 (five) and 6-1 losses to Arizona.

LSU (26-15, 8-9 SEC) had one of the biggest drops of the season, falling from No. 19 to No. 24 after a sweep from Tennessee. Last week’s No. 25 Auburn (32-13, 11-9 SEC) dropped out after losing three to Florida, making way for Fresno State (26-11, 10-2 WAC) to enter the poll at the No 25 spot.

ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

April 19 – April 11-17, 2011 – Week 10

Parenthesis denotes first place votes.

Dropped Out:  Auburn
New to Poll: Fresno State

Others receiving votes:  Auburn (10), Texas Tech (10), Indiana (8), Houston (6), BYU (4), Maryland (3), Tulsa (2), Louisville (1), NMSU (1) and San Diego State (1)