Florida Gators Preseason Favorites in USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll

Posted on by pirhi

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Two-time defending National Champion Florida will start the 2016 campaign atop the poll as the Gators (60-7) received 26 first-place votes and totaled 782 points to earn the No. 1 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll.

Coming off its second consecutive WCWS title, Florida, under the direction of Tim Walton, opens the season at No. 1 for the second year in a row and third overall. In 2015, the Gators spent the first six weeks atop the poll and eight overall and have garnered the No. 1 ranking 14 times the past two seasons.

National runner-up Michigan (60-8) garnered two first-place votes and 755 points to come in at No. 2. WCWS semifinalists LSU (52-14) and Auburn (56-11) are your third and fourth ranked teams, picking up 711 points (two first-place votes) and 698 points (one first-place vote), respectively. Grabbing the final first-place vote and receiving 672 points in fifth-ranked Alabama.

Coming in at No. 6 is Oregon (51-8) with 666 points and at No. 7 with 625 points, UCLA. Rounding out the top-10 are Tennessee (47-17), Oklahoma (49-9) and Florida State (49-14).

The Southeastern Conference led the way with four of the top five selections and eight overall, while the Pac-12 boasted six programs. The Atlantic Coast Conference followed with three teams, while the Big 10, Big 12 and Sun Belt garnered two nods. The American Athletic Conference and Colonial Athletic Association had one squad represented.

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Final 2015 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.

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.