Softball ranked ninth in ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Poll
Jan. 29, 2013
OKLAHOMA CITY – One week after debuting in the top 10 of the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll, the University of Texas Softball team checked in No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Poll announced Tuesday. It is the highest ranking in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll for UT since opening the 2010 campaign at No. 8. The Longhorns were picked No. 7 by the NFCA last week. The USA Softball poll originated in 2003, and the Longhorns have been ranked in all but one of its preseason editions. It is the eighth time in the last nine years Texas Softball has been ranked in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason polls. Just like the USA Today/NFCA poll, the Longhorns are one of three Big 12 Conference teams to appear in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25. Oklahoma is ranked No. 2, while Baylor is tied for 22nd. Texas will face 11 opponents who are ranked or receiving votes in the preseason Top 25: No. 2 Oklahoma (April 19-21 in Austin), No. 4 Arizona State (March 14 in Fullerton, Calif.), No. 11 Louisiana (March 2 in Kissimmee, Fla., March 6 in Austin), No. 16 Washington (March 15 in Fullerton, Calif.), No. 18 Louisville (March 1 in Kissimmee, Fla.), No. 22 Hofstra (March 1 in Kissimmee, Fla.), No. 22 Baylor (March 23 in Waco, March 24 and May 12 in Austin), Tulsa (Feb. 22 in Austin), Syracuse (March 2 in Kissimmee, Fla.), Texas Tech (April 26-28 in Lubbock) and Oklahoma State (May 3-5 in Stillwater, Okla.). UT opens the season Thursday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The contest is part of the Texas Classic, which runs from Feb. 7-10. All five of UT's games during the event will be televised live by Longhorn Network.
Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame (24), Syracuse (23), Kentucky (20), Georgia Tech (18), Virginia Tech (17), Tulsa (14), Texas Tech (12), Mississippi State (9), Oregon State (8), Northwestern (7), Oklahoma State (3), Central Florida (3), South Alabama (2), Massachusetts (2), BYU (1).
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