BATON ROUGE, La. – After finishing the season ranked in the top five after earning the program’s fourth berth in the Women’s College World Series, the LSU softball team will begin 2016 where they left off last year as the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN/USA Softball Division I Preseason Polls were released having the Tigers sitting in third place in both.
The Tigers, who finished the year ranked fourth in both polls after going 52-14 overall and earning a third place finish in Oklahoma City, returns 16 letterwinners and nine starters to the fold with the season a little more than two weeks away.
LSU is no stranger to beginning the season in the top 10 in both polls, as this is the 10th time in team history that the Tigers have been slotted there by the NFCA and the fifth time being selected by USA Softball. The early ranking is the highest to start the year in program history, besting the 2002 ranking that had the Tigers open the year fourth by the NFCA and seventh by USA Softball in 2007 and 2008.
In the NFCA poll, Florida earned 26 first-place votes to open the year at No. 1, while Michigan also earned two first-place votes and is just ahead of LSU at No. 2 with 755 points to the Tigers’ 711. SEC members Auburn and Alabama sit in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with one first-place vote each. Five conference teams are in the top 10 alone, with eight being ranked in the opening poll.
In the other poll, LSU earned 446 points with two first-place votes as the Gators and Wolverines were also ranked first and second. The top three teams were the only ones to receive first-place votes, as Oregon is the next highest without one in fourth, followed by Alabama in fifth. The same five teams ranked in the top 10 of the NFCA poll dot the USA Softball poll in Florida, LSU, Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee, with nine total SEC teams making the initial list.
LSU opens the 2016 season with the Tiger Classic beginning on Friday, February 12 at Tiger Park. The team opens the regular season at 5 p.m. with the Ohio State Buckeyes in Baton Rouge.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusb on Instagram.
2016 USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll
Preseason | Jan. 26, 2016
Rank, Team, Points, 2015 Record, Final 2015 Rank
1, Florida (26), 782, 60-7, 1
2, Michigan (2), 755, 60-8, 2
3, LSU (2), 711, 52-14, 4
4, Auburn (1), 698, 56-11, 3
5, Alabama (1), 672, 48-15, 6
6, Oregon, 666, 51-8, 7
7, UCLA, 625, 51-12, 5
8, Tennessee, 548, 47-17, 8
9, Oklahoma, 514, 49-9, 9
10, Florida State, 493, 49-14, 10
11, Louisiana Lafayette, 449, 42-12, 11
12, Georgia, 416, 44-17, 12
13, Arizona, 385, 41-20, 13
14, Minnesota, 376, 49-11, 15
15, Missouri, 369, 42-16, 14
16, Baylor, 290, 41-17, 18
17, UCF, 270, 50-9, 16
18, Kentucky, 260, 32-26, 17
19, James Madison, 198, 48-10, 22
20, Washington, 197, 42-17, 21
21, California, 142, 39-18, 23
22, Arizona State, 136, 36-22, 20
23, North Carolina State, 114, 38-22, 19
24, Notre Dame, 77, 42-15, t25
25, South Alabama, 73, 40-13, 23
Receiving Votes: Texas A&M 38, North Dakota State 32, Utah 22, Hofstra 14, Nebraska 13, Texas 12, Northwestern 10, Ohio State 6, North Carolina 6, Florida Atlantic 5, Mississippi State 5, USC Upstate 4, UAB 4, Western Kentucky 4, Fresno State 3, Kansas 2, Louisville 2, Pittsburgh 2.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. First Place votes are in parentheses.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
Rank, Team, 2015 Record, Points, Final 2015 Ranking
1, Florida (17), 60-7, 495, 1
2, Michigan (1), 60-8, 473, 2
3, LSU (2), 52-14, 446, 4
4, Oregon, 51-8, 428, 7
5, Alabama, 48-15, 412, 6
6, Auburn, 56-11, 409, 3
7, UCLA, 51-12, 368, 5
8, Oklahoma, 49-9, 352, 9
9, Tennessee, 4-17, 341, 8
10, Florida State, 49-14, 311, 10
11, Louisiana-Lafayette, 42-12, 285, 11
12, Missouri, 42-16, 258, 12
13, Minnesota, 49-11, 257, 15
14, Georgia, 44-17, 223, 13
15, Arizona, 41-20, 217, 14
16, Baylor, 41-17, 183, 18
17, UCF, 50-9, 159, 16
18, Kentucky, 32-26, 106, 20
19, Washington, 42-7, 144, 21
20, Arizona State, 36-22, 106, 20
21, James Madison, 48-10, 95, 22
22, California, 39-18, 80, 23
23, Utah, 36-19, 58, 25
24, Texas A&M, 40-20, 53, RV
25, NC State, 38-22, 47, 19
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
Others receiving votes: Notre Dame (42), North Dakota State (16), Texas (13), USC Upstate (11), Virginia Tech (11), Fresno State (8), Hofstra (8), South Alabama (8), Kansas (7), Northwestern (7), North Carolina (4), San Diego State (4), Texas State (4), Nebraska (3), Ohio State (3), Mississippi State (2), South Carolina (1).