BATON ROUGE — After moving up one spot to No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll on Tuesday, the LSU softball team remained at No. 6 in the NFCA/USA Today poll, it was announced on Wednesday.
After beginning the year at No. 9 in the preseason NFCA poll, this matches the highest ranking for LSU (37-5) in the NFCA/USA Today poll this season. Last week, the Tigers went 4-0, winning a mid-week game at McNeese State, 6-0, before sweeping a Southeastern Conference series at Auburn. LSU took the doubleheader on Saturday, 9-0 in five innings and 4-1, before completing the sweep with a 5-2 win on Sunday. Yesterday, the Tigers earned a doubleheader win over SEC foe Kentucky at Tiger Park, 4-0 and 8-4.
LSU has now been ranked for 23 straight weeks after having their streak of 103 consecutive weeks snapped on March 30, 2005, a streak that dated back to Feb. 28, 1998. In all, the Tigers have been ranked in 127 of the 148 polls (.858) that have been released since the program was reinstated in 1997. LSU has also been ranked in the top 10 for 82 weeks in the program’s history.
SEC rival Tennessee remained at No. 1, while Alabama, who the Tigers took 2-of-3 from two weeks ago, moved back up to No. 2. Oklahoma took over third, while Texas A&M dropped two spots to No. 4 and Arizona was fifth. Following the Tigers to round out the Top 10 are Arizona State, Northwestern, Michigan and Oregon.
The Pac-10 still leads the way with seven ranked in the top 25, followed by the SEC the Big 12 with four ranked teams each. The SEC and Pac-10 lead the nation with three teams each ranked in the top 10. Among the four SEC teams in the top 25, three are in the top 10, including Tennessee, Alabama and LSU, while Florida comes in at No. 23.
The NFCA/USA Today poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches representing each conference.
LSU returns to action on Friday for the first two of three games against South Carolina. The Tigers will face the Gamecocks in a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. and conclude the series on Saturday with a single game at 1 p.m. Teams will take over the park against the Gamecocks. Local teams who are interested in more information about the weekend can contact Jenni Peters in the LSU Promotions Department at (225) 578-3917. The first 500 fans will get free LSU softball team sports backpacks.
NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll
Rank School Record Pts. Pvs.
1. Tennessee (26) 39-2 650 1
2. Alabama 35-4 603 3
3. Oklahoma 38-4 597 4
4. Texas A&M 29-5 575 2
5. Arizona 26-8 536 5
6. LSU 35-5 535 6
7. Arizona State 36-8 491 7
8. Northwestern 27-7 478 8
9. Michigan 26-6 426 10
10. Oregon 36-4 347 13
11. Texas 26-9 346 9
T-12. UCLA 25-9 342 11
T-12. Washington 23-9 342 12
14. Stanford 26-7 320 14
15. UL-Lafayette 34-7 297 15
16. Baylor 34-9 286 16
17. Oregon State 28-11 244 17
18. Hawai’i 35-8 181 21
19. DePaul 24-7 152 23
20. Southern Illinois 28-8, 136 18
21. Illinois State 30-9 124 20
22. North Carolina 36-9 106 25
23. Florida 28-16 98 19
24. Fresno State 29-12 65 NR
25. Georgia Tech 32-12 58 NR
Others Receiving Votes:
Georgia 39, Cal Poly 23, Virginia Tech 22, N.C. State 19. Five others appeared on one ballot.