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Alabama Starts 2013 at No. 1 in USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll

Posted: 1:51 PM Jan 22, 2013
Reporter: National Fastpitch Coaches Association

Alabama Starts 2013 at No. 1 in USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Alabama Crimson Tide will start the 2013 campaign in the exact same position as it finished last season as the No. 1 team in the nation, according to the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll that was released by the Association on Tuesday.

The defending national champion Crimson Tide (60-8) received 25 of 31 possible first-place votes to lead the way in the top spot, while the remainder of the top five remained unchanged from last year’s final ranking. National runner-up Oklahoma reaped five first-place tallies to sit second, California (58-7) was third after garnering a single first-place nod, Arizona State (53-11) rated fourth and Oregon (45-18) rounded out the top five squads.

Tennessee (52-14), Texas (47-13), Missouri (47-14), Georgia (45-17) and LSU (40-25) made up positions 6-10, respectively.

Syracuse (43-16) and Oregon State (36-23) were the only two teams to drop out of the poll from 2012 to 2013, but each were included among the squads listed among the receiving votes column.

The Pacific-12 and Southeastern Conference led the way with seven selections each, while the Big 12 Conference boasted three teams in the ratings. Other leagues placing teams in the listing were the BIG EAST and ACC (two each) as well as the Big Ten, Colonial Athletic Association, Big West and Sun Belt (one each).

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 31 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Final 2012 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.

Rank
Team
2012 Record
Totals
Final 2012 Poll

1
Alabama (25)
60-8
765
1

2
Oklahoma (5)
54-10
745
2

3
California (1)
58-7
704
3

4
Arizona State
53-11
684
4

5
Oregon
45-18
635
5

6
Tennessee
52-14
626
6

7
Texas
47-13
534
9

8
Missouri
47-14
496
11

9
Georgia
45-17
490
10

10
LSU
40-25
475
7

11
Louisiana Lafayette
53-6
429
12

12
USF
50-14
423
8

13
Arizona
38-19
406
13

14
Florida
48-11
342
18

15
Michigan
42-17
326
15

16
Washington
39-19
316
14

17
Texas A&M
41-18
296
19

18
Louisville
55-5
255
17

19
UCLA
36-20
216
20

20
Hofstra
42-15
203
16

21
Stanford
40-19
183
21

22
North Carolina
43-15
102
24

23
Hawai'i
44-9
89
22

24
Baylor
34-22
80
RV

25
Florida State
47-16
58
RV

Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame (43), Georgia Tech (29), Syracuse (27), Kentucky (23), Oregon State (22), Texas Tech (12), Virginia Tech (11), DePaul (10), Northwestern (5), BYU (4), Houston (3), Tulsa (2), Mississippi State (2), Illinois State (2), South Alabama (2).