Arizona State No. 1 for Fourth Consecutive Week
SPY Note: the May 17 NCAA RPI has been posted on www.spysoftball.org
SPY Note: the latest (May 17) individual and team stats are posed on www.spysoftball.org
OKLAHOMA CITY – In the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll of the 2011 regular season, Arizona State (50-6, 17-4 Pac-10) is ranked No. 1, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced today. The Sun Devils, No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week, were ranked No. 10 in the pre-season poll released January 25.
With a 2-1 weekend over then-No. 12 Stanford (38-15, 10-11 Pac-10), Arizona State was named Pac-10 Champions, earning the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship. Michigan (51-4, 18-2 Big Ten) remains No. 2 in the poll after two 8-0 performances against Michigan State while Alabama (46-8, 19-6 SEC) improved to No. 3.
The 2011 Big 12 Champion Missouri Tigers (46-7, 15-3 Big 12) moved into the Top 5 at No. 4 after going 3-0 on the week. At No. 5, California (39-10, 15-6 Pac-10) tied with Florida (47-9, 21-7 SEC). While Cal notched two wins over No. 10 Arizona (40-16, 11-10 Pac-10), Florida was eliminated by then-No. 24 Auburn (39-17, 15-13 SEC) in the opening game of the SEC Tournament. The Gators were third in last week’s poll.
No. 7 Tennessee (47-10, 20-8 SEC) clinched the SEC Tournament crown with wins over then-No. 20 Kentucky (36-14, 14-9 SEC ), then-No. 24 Auburn (39-17, 15-13 SEC) and then-No. 9 Georgia (47-12, 17-9 SEC). Tennessee defeated Georgia, now eighth-ranked, 6-5 in eight innings to claim the title. Kentucky is now No. 21 while Auburn is No. 23.
While teams moved in the rankings, all of the Top 25 teams for the final poll of the regular season were also ranked in the Top 25 last week. The last ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll of 2011 will be released June 14 after the conclusion of the NCAA Women’s College World Series, which is June 2-8 in Oklahoma City.
For complete coverage of the NCAA Championships and the run to Oklahoma City for the NCAA WCWS, visit www.ncaa.com/wcws/.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
May 17 – May 9-15, 2011 – Week 14
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous Ranking |
| 1. | Arizona State (20) | 50-6 | 500 | 1 |
| 2. | Michigan | 51-4 | 472 | 2 |
| 3. | Alabama | 46-8 | 435 | 4 |
| 4. | Missouri | 46-7 | 418 | 6 |
| T5. | California | 39-10 | 415 | 5 |
| T5. | Florida | 47-9 | 415 | 3 |
| 7. | Tennessee | 47-10 | 395 | 8 |
| 8. | Georgia | 47-12 | 359 | 9 |
| 9. | Texas | 45-8 | 354 | 7 |
| 10. | Arizona | 40-16 | 310 | 10 |
| 11. | Oregon | 39-14 | 292 | 11 |
| T12. | Oklahoma | 38-16 | 272 | 13 |
| T12. | Stanford | 38-15 | 272 | 12 |
| 14. | Washington | 34-14 | 225 | 14 |
| 15. | Baylor | 40-12 | 224 | 17 |
| 16. | UCLA | 33-17 | 198 | 15 |
| 17. | Texas A&M | 41-18 | 178 | 19 |
| 18. | Georgia Tech | 44-10 | 155 | 16 |
| 19. | Notre Dame | 45-9 | 136 | 18 |
| 20. | Nebraska | 39-12 | 105 | 23 |
| 21. | Kentucky | 36-14 | 86 | 20 |
| 22. | LSU | 38-16 | 84 | 21 |
| 23. | Auburn | 39-17 | 61 | 24 |
| 24. | ULL | 49-9 | 33 | 25 |
| 25. | Oklahoma State | 37-17 | 31 | 22 |
Dropped Out: None
New to Poll: None
Others receiving votes: Syracuse (25); Tulsa (13); Houston (9); Indiana (7); BYU (6); North Carolina (6); Maryland (5); Fordham (2); New Mexico State (1); Texas Tech (1); Longwood (1)
