USF Ranked 21st in Preseason USA Today/NFCA Poll

[Zonald]

COOL!  

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Jan. 26, 2005) – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has released today that the University of South Florida softball team has been ranked 21st in the 2005 Preseason USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll, as voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches.

USF starts off its 2005 season ranked in both major softball pollsâ€â€yesterday ESPN.com/USA Softball released its poll and USF was ranked 22nd. The Bulls received 158 points in the USA Today/NFCA Poll and are the only Conference USA team to be ranked in this poll – DePaul and Louisville received votes.

The Bulls finished the 2004 season ranked 16th in the final USA Today/NFCA Poll after a record-breaking year in wins in a season, posting a record of 60-14 in 2004â€â€the previous mark was 57 wins in 1998. The Bulls received a berth to the NCAA Regional for the second-consecutive year and for the sixth time in nine years (1996, 1998, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004). Five of those NCAA appearances have come under current head coach Ken Eriksen.

The Bulls open their 2005 season in Miami at the Florida International Diamond Fun and Sun Classic on Feb. 4-6.

2005 Preseason USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll

Rank Team 2004 Record Points Previous

1 California (14) 53-13 729 2

2 UCLA (12) 46-9 705 1

3 Arizona (4) 55-6 698 8

4 Oklahoma 45-22-1 617 6

5 LSU 57-12 541 3

6 Stanford 49-19 512 4

7 Georgia 55-17 511 11

8 Michigan 54-13 502 9

9 Louisiana-Lafayette 60-8 472 10

10 Florida State 62-12 466 5

11 Washington 40-19 442 7

12 Alabama 46-20 419 13

13 Oregon 42-21 372 12

14 Tennessee 55-16 363 18

15 Texas 24-25 362 NR

16 Oregon State 44-28 232 15

17 Baylor 48-17 222 19

18 Nebraska 45-17 213 14

19 Fresno State 48-20 195 25

20 Long Beach State 51-13 163 19

21 South Florida 60-14 158 16

22 Illinois 45-21-1 133 17

23 Georgia Tech 47-19 100 22

24 Southern Illinois 45-17 67 24

25 Hofstra 38-20 65 21

Others receiving votes:

Texas A&M 64, Notre Dame 60, Auburn 59, Florida 51, Florida Atlantic 45, Northwestern 41, Arizona State 26, DePaul 18, Michigan State 16, Massachusetts 13, Pacific 11, Oklahoma State 11, Iowa 11, Louisville 9, Tulsa 9, Kansas 7. 11 other teams received votes, but only appeared on one ballot.

Dropped out: No. 23 Auburn

http://gobulls.usf.edu/Sports/News.asp?i=1250&s=Softball

[smazza]

when do we start in big east for this sport

[Bullsfan]

Next year just like every other sport

[CoralSpringsBull]

I believe we officially become members of the Big East on July 1.

[Markeymark]

Dropped out: No. 23 Auburn

How do you drop out of a pre-season poll...

[goodknightfl]

congrats..

[bigbull]

I am not sure how you drop out of the pre-season poll....All I know is this team is going to be very good and they will have to be playing 5 teams in the top 25 out of conference including Michigan and Stanford who made it to the NCAA tournamnet in Oklahoma last season....Coach has done a great job with this program and I can't wait to see where we go this year

[Jewbull]

How are you ranked higher in the national poll than any other fellow conference member and you are not even picked to finish #1 in your own conference?