BATON ROUGE, La. – Coming off of a 6-1 week, the LSU softball team checked in at No. 12 in both of the major national polls ahead of a big SEC clash to open league play against No. 2 Auburn this weekend.
The Tigers, 18-4 overall on the year, came in at No. 12 in both polls as one of 10 SEC teams in the NFCA and USA Softball poll.
Auburn, 19-2 on the season, earned two first-place votes by the coaches to sit at No. 2, while sitting at No. 4 in the USA Softball poll.
The three-game series gets underway on Friday at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn at 6 p.m. Game two is set for 7:30 p.m., with the finale at 4 p.m. Sunday. Game one will be streamed online on SEC Network+, with game two and three on the SEC Network with Tom Hart, Amanda Scarborough and Laura Rutledge.
Talk 107.3 FM will carry radio coverage of the series.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll – March 7
Rank, Team, Totals, 2017 Record, Last Poll,
1, Florida State (17), 778, 17-1-1, 1
2, Auburn (2), 742, 19-2, 2
3, Florida (7), 722, 20-1, 3
4, Oregon (2), 707, 19-0, 4
5, Arizona, 645, 18-1, 6
6, Texas A&M (2), 630, 19-1, 5
7, Minnesota (2), 610, 18-0, 10
8, Washington, 553, 15-3, 8
9, Oklahoma, 548, 15-4, 9
10, UCLA, 519, 16-5, 7
11, Alabama, 486, 19-2, 11
12, LSU, 420, 18-4, 13
13, James Madison, 412, 16-3, 12
14, Tennessee, 368, 18-2, 15
15, Baylor, 351, 18-4, 22
16, Georgia, 341, 19-3, 16
17, Michigan, 311, 12-6-1, 14
18, Louisiana, 273, 17-4, 18
19, Kentucky, 218, 13-4, 19
20, Utah, 187, 13-4, 17
21, Arizona State, 150, 15-5, 20
22, Ole Miss, 115, 17-2, 25
23, California, 99, 15-3, 23
24, Missouri, 51, 10-8, 24
25, BYU, 35, 11-6, RV
Dropped Out: No. 21 Pittsburgh
New to Poll: No. 25 BYU
Receiving Votes: Arkansas (29), South Alabama (25), North Carolina (21), Pittsburgh (13), Wisconsin (11), Notre Dame (7), Texas (6), Oregon State (6), Fordham (6), USC Upstate (3), Cal State Fullerton (1), Ohio (1).
ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 – March 7
Rank, Team, Record, Points, Previous Ranking
1., Florida (11), 20-1, 482, 1
2., Florida State (4), 17-1-1, 476, 2
3., Oregon (3), 19-0, 453, 4
4., Auburn, 19-2, 434, 3
5., Texas A&M (1), 19-1, 420, 5
6., Arizona, 18-1, 404, 6
7., Minnesota (1), 18-0, 366, 11
8., Washington, 15-3, 354, 7
9., Alabama, 19-2, 338, T9
10., Oklahoma, 15-4, 319, T9
11., UCLA, 16-5, 301, 8
12., LSU, 18-4, 264, 12
13., Tennessee, 18-2, 257, 15
14., James Madison, 16-3, 242, 13
T15., Michigan, 12-6-1, 199, 14
T15., Baylor, 18-4, 199, 22
17., Georgia, 19-3, 193, 17
18., Louisiana, 17-4, 152, 19
19., California, 15-3, 148, 18
20., Kentucky, 13-4, 107, 21
21., Utah, 13-4, 99, 16
T22., Arizona State, 15-5, 80, 20
T22., Ole Miss, 17-2, 80, 23
24., Arkansas, 17-1, 44, RV
25., Wisconsin, 15-2, 19, RV
Dropped Out: Pittsburgh (24), Missouri (25)
New to Poll: Arkansas (24), Wisconsin (25)
Others receiving votes: South Alabama (14), Missouri (13), North Carolina (11), USC Upstate (8), Ohio State (6), Notre Dame (6), Texas (4), BYU (3), South Carolina (2), Cal State Fullerton (1), and Coastal Carolina (1).