Alabama continues reign on top of ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
OKLAHOMA CITY — Alabama (37-2, 12-1 SEC) remains the top team in collegiate softball for the third consecutive week. After a successful road campaign that resulted in a win over College of Charleston and three over South Carolina, the Crimson Tide became the first team this season to sweep the No. 1 votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, released today by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America.
Georgia (33-4, 8-3 SEC) held at No. 2 for the second consecutive week while Arizona State (35-3, 2-1 Pac-10) moved to their highest ranking of the year, No. 3, with a 2-1 road trip to then-No. 8 California (22-6, 1-2 Pac-10). Michigan dropped a spot to No. 4 with an extra innings loss to Indiana. Arizona reentered the Top 5 with an 8-0 (five), 6-1 and 2-0 home stand against then-No. 12 Stanford (24-7, 0-3 Pac-10). Stanford is now 14.
Rounding out the Top 10 are No. 6 Washington (27-3, 2-1 Pac-10), No. 7 Texas (21-3, 4-0 Big 12), No. 8 Tennessee (29-6, 7-4 SEC), No. 9 Cal and No. 10 UCLA (26-5, 3-0 Pac-10), a team that has been out of the Top 10 since March 15. Texas, which swept then No. 18 Oklahoma State (29-9, 1-3 Big 12) on the road, was in the Top 10 only two previous times this year, ranking No. 9 last week and No. 10 on March 22.
Florida tumbled out of the Top 10 for the first time this year after being swept on the road then-No. 23 Kentucky (25-7, 11-3 SEC). The No. 11 Gators, ranked No. 1 in the March 8 poll and receiving No. 1 votes as recently as March 22, are on a six game losing skid after being swept by Georgia last week. Kentucky improved to No. 18 with the 10-2 (six), 7-6 and 9-2 wins.
Fresno State (22-8, 6-0 WAC) entered the Top 25 for the first time this season, after receiving votes in every poll this season. The team swept then-No. 25 Hawaii (25-12, 3-3 WAC) 5-0, 2-1 and 2-0. The Rainbow Wahine dropped out of the poll
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
April 5 – March 28- April 3, 2011 – Week Eight
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous Ranking |
| 1. | Alabama (20) | 37-2 | 500 | 1 |
| 2. | Georgia | 33-4 | 480 | 2 |
| 3. | Arizona State | 35-3 | 441 | 4 |
| 4. | Michigan | 33-3 | 434 | 3 |
| 5. | Arizona | 32-6 | 412 | 7 |
| 6. | Washington | 27-3 | 408 | 6 |
| 7. | Texas | 21-3 | 393 | 9 |
| 8. | Tennessee | 29-6 | 337 | 10 |
| 9. | California | 22-6 | 324 | 8 |
| 10. | UCLA | 26-5 | 304 | 13 |
| 11. | Florida | 30-7 | 292 | 5 |
| 12. | Missouri | 28-5 | 274 | 11 |
| 13. | Nebraska | 30-4 | 244 | 16 |
| 14 | Stanford | 24-7 | 229 | 12 |
| 15. | Oklahoma | 29-10 | 216 | 14 |
| 16. | Oregon | 29-6 | 212 | 15 |
| 17. | Baylor | 28-6 | 191 | 17 |
| 18. | Kentucky | 25-7 | 165 | 23 |
| 19. | ULL | 27-5 | 117 | 19 |
| 20. | Texas A&M | 30-8 | 115 | 20 |
| 21. | Oklahoma State | 29-9 | 96 | 18 |
| 22. | Auburn | 29-7 | 78 | 21 |
| 23. | Georgia Tech | 31-6 | 77 | 24 |
| 24. | Texas Tech | 36-4 | 66 | 22 |
| 25. | Fresno State | 22-8 | 47 | RV |
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
Dropped Out: Hawaii
New to Poll: Fresno State
Others receiving votes: LSU (12), Notre Dame (11), Louisville (7), UAB (5), East Carolina (4), San Diego State (3), North Carolina (1), BYU (1), Hawaii (1), Long Beach State (1) and Maryland (1).
