OKLAHOMA CITY — The Crimson Tide, the defending National Champion, has secured the No. 1 spot in the pre-season ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. The Tide claimed 13 of 20 first place votes in the poll following their first-ever NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) title.
At the 2012 NCAA WCWS in Oklahoma City, the Tide, led by Most Outstanding Player Jackie Traina (Naples, Fla.), overcame two rain delays and an early three-run deficit to earn the Southeastern Conference (SEC) its first National Championship title.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
2013 Season – Pre-season – January 29, 2013
|
Rank
|
Team
|
2012 Record
|
Points
|
Final 2012 Ranking
|
|
1.
|
Alabama (13)
|
60-8
|
490
|
1
|
|
2.
|
Oklahoma (7)
|
54-10
|
486
|
2
|
|
3.
|
California
|
58-7
|
449
|
3
|
|
4.
|
Arizona State
|
53-11
|
445
|
4
|
|
5.
|
Tennessee
|
52-14
|
414
|
7
|
|
6.
|
Oregon
|
45-18
|
390
|
5
|
|
7.
|
Missouri
|
47-14
|
346
|
11
|
|
8.
|
Georgia
|
45-17
|
332
|
10
|
|
9.
|
Texas
|
47-13
|
297
|
12
|
|
10.
|
South Florida
|
50-14
|
285
|
8
|
|
11.
|
Louisiana-Lafayette
|
53-6
|
272
|
9
|
|
12.
|
LSU
|
40-25
|
263
|
6
|
|
13.
|
Michigan
|
42-17
|
233
|
15
|
|
14.
|
Arizona
|
38-19
|
226
|
13
|
|
15.
|
Florida
|
48-13
|
225
|
16
|
|
16.
|
Washington
|
39-19
|
213
|
14
|
|
17.
|
Texas A&M
|
41-18
|
195
|
19
|
|
18.
|
Louisville
|
55-5
|
188
|
18
|
|
19.
|
UCLA
|
36-20
|
144
|
21
|
|
20.
|
Stanford
|
40-19
|
131
|
20
|
|
21.
|
North Carolina
|
43-15
|
69
|
25
|
|
T22.
|
Baylor
|
34-22
|
67
|
RV
|
|
T22.
|
Hofstra
|
42-15
|
67
|
17
|
|
24.
|
Florida State
|
47-16
|
66
|
22
|
|
25.
|
Hawaii
|
44-9
|
44
|
23
|
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
Dropped Out: None
New to Poll: None
Others receiving votes: Notre Dame (24); Syracuse (23); Kentucky (20); Georgia Tech (18); Virginia Tech (17); Tulsa (14); Texas Tech (12); Mississippi State (9); Oregon State (8); Northwestern (7); Oklahoma State (3); Central Florida (3); South Alabama (2); UMASS (2); BYU (1)