BATON ROUGE — Riding a 15-game winning streak and after sweeping Auburn last weekend, the LSU softball team moved up two spots in both the NFCA/USA Today and ESPN/USA Softball polls to No. 8, it was announced on Tuesday.
LSU has now been ranked for 36 straight weeks in the NFCA poll and has been among the nationally ranked teams in 140 of the 161 polls (.870) that have been released since the LSU program was reinstated in 1997. The Tigers have also been ranked in the top 10 for 93 total weeks. Since ESPN began its softball poll on Feb. 25, 2003, LSU has been ranked in 76 of the 85 polls (.894). The Tigers have now been ranked in the top 10 for 43 total weeks.
Southeastern Conference rival Alabama sits at No. 2 in the NFCA poll and No. 3 in the ESPN poll, followed closely by Florida in at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. In addition, Tennessee is ranked No. 9 in both polls to give the league four teams among the top 10. That mark is tied with the Pac 10 for the most teams ranked among the nation’s top 10 of any conference.
Arizona State remained at No. 1 in the NFCA poll, while UCLA moved up to No. 1 in the ESPN poll. Alabama is No. 2, Florida is No. 3, followed by UCLA and Stanford in the top five in the NFCA poll. Following the Bruins in the ESPN poll are Arizona State at No. 2, Alabama at No. 3, Florida and Stanford.
Rounding out the top 10 in the NFCA/USA Today poll are Michigan at No. 6, Texas A&M, LSU, Tennessee and Arizona. The remainder of the top 10 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll includes Michigan, Texas A&M, LSU, Tennessee and Arizona.
The SEC and Pac 10 are tied among all conference with five teams ranked each in the NFCA poll and six teams ranked in the ESPN poll. In addition to the four teams ranked in the top 10 for the SEC, Georgia comes in at No. 25 in the NFCA poll, with the Bulldogs ranked No. 18 and Mississippi State ranked No. 21 in the ESPN poll.
The Tigers remain in conference play this week with five league games. LSU will host Mississippi State in a mid-week doubleheader on Wednesday beginning at 4 p.m. The Tigers will then travel to Gainesville, Fla., to face Florida in a three-game series. The series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon CDT and concludes with a single game on Sunday at noon CDT. All five games this week will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network in Baton Rouge on The X ? 104.5/104.9 FM and in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net.
NFCA/USA Today Top 25 Poll
Rank
Team
Record
Points
1.
Arizona State (20)
34-2
711
2.
Alabama (5)
27-3
691
3.
Florida (2)
35-2
674
4.
UCLA (1)
26-3
636
5.
Stanford
31-2
613
6.
Michigan (1)
25-3
578
7.
Texas A&M
31-6
513
8.
LSU
27-4
511
9.
Tennessee
28-5
492
10.
Arizona
21-8
468
11.
Houston
28-4
440
12.
Oklahoma
27-8
369
13.
Fresno State
30-5
357
14.
UL-Lafayette
20-8
243
15.
Georgia
30-8
242
16.
Northwestern
13-9
236
17.
DePaul
19-9
226
18.
Baylor
18-8
210
19.
North Carolina
27-6-1
204
20.
Long Beach State
24-9
194
21.
Hawai’i
24-10
145
22.
Ohio State
21-6
138
23.
Washington
21-9-1
133
24.
Virginia Tech
23-9
131
25.
San Diego State
27-10
126
Others Receiving Votes: California 56, Mississippi State 39, Missouri 20, Auburn 17, Texas State 3, Nevada 3, Cal State Fullerton 3, Maryland 1, Florida State 1, Central Florida 1.
ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 Poll
Rank
Team
Record
Points
1.
UCLA (9)
26-3
481
2.
Arizona State (7)
34-2
479
3.
Alabama (4)
27-3
463
4.
Florida
35-2
444
5
Stanford
31-2
422
6
Michigan
25-3
398
7.
Texas A&M
31-6
370
8.
LSU
27-4
352
9.
Tennessee
28-5
326
10.
Arizona
21-8
301
11.
Houston
28-4
299
12.
Fresno State
30-5
287
13.
Oklahoma
27-8
278
14.
Long Beach State
24-9
193
15.
UL-Lafayette
20-8
191
16.
Northwestern
13-9
178
17.
Hawai’i
24-10
134
18.
Georgia
30-8
128
19.
Baylor
18-8
125
20.
North Carolina
27-6-1
115
21.
Mississippi Stage
26-9
100
22.
San Diego State
27-10
97
23.
California
29-10
85
24.
DePaul
19-9
83
25.
Washington
21-9-1
66
Others receiving votes: Virginia Tech 47, Ohio State 23, Missouri 18, Cal State Fullerton 6, Florida State 5, Maryland 3, Massachusetts 2, Kansas 1.