Jan. 24, 2007
STARKVILLE, Miss. --- For the third consecutive season, the Baylor softball team finds itself in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Top 25 Poll as the Lady Bears will start out the 2007 season ranked No. 18 in country.
With the release of the poll, the Lady Bears have been ranked among the top 25 teams in the country for 41 consecutive weeks, dating back to the fifth week of the 2004 season.
The Lady Bears are one of five Big 12 Conference teams listed in the initial poll. Although Baylor was tabbed second in a preseason poll by the league coaches the Lady Bears are fifth among Big 12 teams in the NFCA poll. However, all five teams fall within six spots of each other as Texas A&M is No. 13, followed by No. 15 Nebraska, No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 17 Texas.
The Lady Bears return eight players, including NFCA All-Americans Brette Reagan and Chelsi Lake, from last year's squad that finished 38-22 on the season and finished third in the Big 12 Conference and advanced to the NCAA Corvallis Regional final.
Defending national champion Arizona earned 23 first-place votes to claim the top spot in the preseason poll. The Wildcats visit Baylor for a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 9, at 6:30 p.m.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches representing each conference.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Softball Poll
Rank, School, 2006 Record, Pts., Pvs.
1. Arizona (23), 54-11, 737, 1
2. Tennessee (7), 61-12, 679, 3
3. UCLA, 50-9, 648, 4
4. Northwestern, 50-15, 647, 2
5. Arizona State, 53-15, 594, 6
6. Oregon State, 43-16, 579, 8
7. Alabama, 54-11, 485, 7
8. Stanford, 42-18, 481, 12
9. LSU, 55-14, 471, 11
10. California, 48-14, 436, 9
11. Michigan, 44-15, 400, 10
12. Washington, 35-25, 353, 15
13. Texas A&M, 34-19, 323, 22
14. Georgia, 54-15, 320, 13
15. Nebraska, 44-12, 280, 14
16. Oklahoma, 40-21-1, 274, 18
17. Texas, 55-9, 273, 5
18. Baylor, 38-22, 248, 20
19. Louisiana-Lafayette, 50-12, 235, 16
20. Louisville, 45-11, 211, 17
21. Fresno State, 37-19, 198, 23
22. South Florida, 50-25, 181, 18
23. Massachusetts, 41-16, 123, 24
24. Auburn, 36-22, 84, 21
25. Florida State, 44-30, 79, 25
