BATON ROUGE – The LSU softball program checked in with a No. 22 national ranking Tuesday as both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 released their final polls for the 2011 season.
The Tigers have spent 92 of the last 94 weeks ranked in the polls dating back to the 2006 season highlighted by 24 weeks inside the Top 10. LSU had a two-week hiatus from the polls this season to have an 84-week run come to a close on March 29. The Tigers rebounded to spend the final seven weeks of the season ranked.
Joining LSU from the SEC in the final rankings is Florida (No. 2/2), Alabama (No. 3/3), Georgia (No. 9/9), Kentucky (No. 13/12) and Tennessee (No. 18/16). The Tigers also squared off with California (No. 5/5), Oklahoma State (No. 8/8), Arizona (No. 11/11), Texas A&M (No. 14/13), Houston (No. 16/18) and Texas (No. 20/19) during the 2011 campaign.
LSU wrapped up the final season of head coach Yvette Girouard’s legendary career with a 40-18 record en route to the program’s 13th NCAA Regional appearance. It marked the 13th time in 15 seasons that the Tigers finished with at least 40 victories since softball was reinstated in 1997.
LSU is slated to return 15 letterwinners for the 2012 season sparked by NFCA Third-Team All-American pick Brittany Mack along with All-SEC Second-Team selection Anissa Young.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Final Poll – June 14
Rank, Team, Record, Points, Last Poll
1, Arizona State, 60-6, 750, 1
2, Florida, 56-13, 720, 3
3, Alabama, 53-11, 686, 4
4, Baylor, 47-15, 653, 17
5, California, 45-13, 618, 7
6, Missouri, 53-10, 603, 8
7, Oklahoma, 43-19, 568, 13
8, Oklahoma State, 42-20, 541, 22
9, Georgia, 51-14, 489, 9
10, Stanford, 42-17, 459, 11
11, Arizona, 43-18, 439, 10
12, Washington, 37-15, 404, 15
13, Kentucky, 40-16, 381, 23
14, Texas A&M, 44-15, 363, 18
15, Oregon, 42-16, 349, 12
16, Houston, 44-18, 321, NR
17, Michigan, 53-6, 249, 2
18, Tennessee, 49-12, 234, 5
19, UCLA, 36-19, 205, 14
20, Texas, 46-10, 163, 6
21, Nebraska, 41-14, 124, 16
22, LSU, 40-18, 109, 20
23, Louisiana-Lafayette, 51-11, 78, 25
24, Tulsa, 46-15, 50, RV
24, DePaul, 40-15, 50, RV
Dropped Out: No. 19 Georgia Tech, No. 21 Auburn, No. 24 Notre Dame
Others Receiving Votes: Louisville 31, Georgia Tech 27, BYU 15, Auburn 13, San Diego State 13, East Carolina 12, Texas Tech 9, Notre Dame 7, Florida St. 6, Penn St. 4, Syracuse 3, Maryland 2, Jacksonville 1 and New Mexico State 1.
ESPN.com/USA Softball Division I Top 25 Final Poll – June 14
Rank, Team, Record, Points, Last Poll
1, Arizona State, 60-6, 500, 1
2, Florida, 56-13, 580, T-5
3, Alabama, 53-11, 459, 3
4, Baylor, 47-15, 429, 15
5, California, 45-13, 417, T-5
6, Missouri, 53-10, 414, 4
7, Oklahoma, 43-19, 375, T-12
8, Oklahoma State, 42-20, 332, 8
9, Georgia, 51-14, 329, 8
10, Stanford, 42-17, 308, T-12
11, Arizona, 43-18, 271, 10
12, Kentucky, 40-16, 248, 21
13, Texas A&M, 44-15, 242, 17
14, Oregon, 42-16, 231, 11
15, Washington, 37-15, 228, 14
16, Tennessee, 49-12, 222, 7
17, Michigan, 53-6, 195, 2
18, Houston, 44-18, 169, RV
19, Texas, 46-10, 154, 9
20, UCLA, 36-19, 126, 16
21, Nebraska, 41-14, 87, 20
22, LSU, 40-18, 63, 22
23, Notre Dame, 46-11, 62, 19
24, Georgia Tech, 45-12, 37, 18
25, Louisiana-Lafayette, 51-11, 26, 24
Dropped Out: No. 23 Auburn
Others Receiving Votes: Tulsa 22, BYU 20, Auburn 12, DePaul 10, Louisville 9, San Diego State 9, East Carolina 8, Penn State 4, Florida State 1 and Syracuse 1.