College Softball Rankings: ESPN, USA Softball update Top 25 with new No. 1 after Week 2

Two weeks of college softball are officially in the books, and ESPN/USA Softball have officially released their latest rankings. On Tuesday, the latest top 25 was officially updated.

This early in the season, multi-team events still play a prominent role in the schedule across the country. The weather also resulted in some cancellations across the East Coast on Sunday.

In the top ten, there were some losses. Three top ten teams (No. 6 Florida State, T-No. 8 Nebraska and T-No. 8 Texas A&M) lost twice on the week, while No. 7 UCLA lost three games. No. 10 LSU went 1-4 on the weekend. Safe to say we got some movement in this week’s college softball rankings.

Now, it’s time to see what ESPN/USA Softball’s official top 25 looks like as we enter Week 3. There’s plenty of movement throughout.

1. Tennessee

Previous Ranking: No. 3 (+2)
Weekly Record: 5-0
Overall Record: 10-0

Tennessee was in Clearwater, Florida, for the second straight weekend to start the year, and this one went much like the last. But after two ranked wins on opening weekend, the Volunteers picked up three this week. They defeated No. T8 Nebraska 4-1, No. 7 UCLA 11-0 and No. 6 Florida State 9-1, also picking up an 11-0 victory against James Madison and an 8-0 win against Florida Atlantic.

2. Texas Tech

Previous Ranking: No. 1 (-1)
Weekly Record: 5-1
Overall Record: 11-1

After a 6-0 start on opening weekend, No. 1 Texas Tech had another good showing in the Clearwater Invitational. They won their first five games of the weekend, beating No. 6 Florida State 3-2, Northwestern 5-0, Florida Atlantic 8-0, NC State 14-1 and James Madison 5-0. In Sunday’s weekend finale, the Red Raiders fell 3-2 against No. T8 Nebraska. Still, it was a strong showing for the top-ranked team.

3. Texas

Previous Ranking: No. 2 (-1)
Weekly Record: 5-0
Overall Record: 9-1

Texas was at home this weekend, hosting the Bevo Classic. It was a pretty smooth weekend from start to finish. The Longhorns defeated Abilene Christian 11-0, Ohio State 14-6 and 7-4, Syracuse 14-0 and NIU 9-1 to finish undefeated on the weekend. The Longhorns remain at No. 2 in this week’s college softball rankings.

4. Oklahoma

Previous Ranking: No. 4
Weekly Record: 5-0
Overall Record: 8-1

Oklahoma went 3-1 on opening weekend and began this week in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in the Troy Cox Classic. There, they picked up four dominating victories, beating Montana 17-0, New Mexico State 18-6, Minnesota 12-2 and Idaho State 10-1. They then went to El Paso, Texas and beat UTEP a whopping 34-0 in the Dr. Diana Natalicio Memorial Tournament.

5. Florida

Previous Ranking: No. 5
Weekly Record: 7-0
Overall Record: 12-0

Florida’s week began with a pair of midweek wins, 20-0 at Jacksonville on Tuesday and 11-1 at home against Jacksonville. That success carried over into the weekend with the Gators hosting the Florida Classic. They picked up a pair of victories over both Marshall (6-3, 14-4) and Georgia Tech (8-5, 5-1) while also defeating FIU 14-6 to end another perfect week.

6. Nebraska

Previous Ranking: Tie – No. 8 (+2)
Weekly Record: 3-2
Overall Record: 6-4

For the second consecutive weekend, Nebraska won three and lost two. This weekend, the Huskers were in the Clearwater Invitational, and four of their five games were against top 25 teams. They started with a 6-0 win over No. 10 LSU, before losing two straight, 6-5 to No. 17 Georgia and 4-1 to No. 3 Tennessee. The Cornhuskers then defeated UCF 6-0 and No. 1 Texas Tech 3-2 to conclude the weekend on a high note.

7. Florida State

Previous Ranking: No. 6 (-1)
Weekly Record: 3-2
Overall Record: 8-2

After a 5-0 start to the year, Florida State played in the Clearwater Invitational this past weekend after an 8-0 midweek victory over Liberty on Tuesday. In Clearwater, the Seminoles lost their opener and finale, both against top three teams in last week’s softball rankings, 3-2 against No. 1 Texas Tech and 9-1 against No. 3 Tennessee. In between those two losses was a pair of wins, 9-5 over Florida Atlantic and 11-7 over No. 7 UCLA.

8. Arkansas

Previous Ranking: No. 11 (+3)
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 8-1

Arkansas played in the States Up! Invitational in San Marcos, Texas, this weekend, and it was a strong showing. The Razorbacks picked up victories over Wichita State, No. 18 Clemson, BYU and Texas State, sweeping through by a combined score of 42-3. That’s quite the statement, and enough to get them into the top ten in this week’s college softball rankings.

9. Alabama

Previous Ranking: No. 13 (+4)
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 9-0

Alabama hosted the Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa this weekend and cruised to a sweep. The Crimson Tide defeated Purdue 10-0 and 8-0 and Liberty 6-3 and 8-0 before their weekend finale against Georgia Southern was canceled. It’s a 9-0 start to the season for Alabama, and they’re moving quickly up in this week’s softball rankings.

10. Stanford

Previous Ranking: No. 12 (+2)
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 8-1

Stanford hosted the Cardinal Classic at home this past weekend from Thursday through Sunday. It started off on a disappointing note, falling 11-7 to Kentucky. The Cardinal rebounded with a win in the rematch against the Wildcats on Friday, 7-1. They went on to defeat Cal State Fullerton 7-1 and No. 14 Oregon 5-4 to secure a winning weekend.

College Softball Rankings: 11-25

11. UCLA (-4)
12. Georgia (+5)
13. Texas A&M (-5)
T-14. Oregon
T-14. Duke (+5)
16. Arizona (-1)
17. LSU (-7)
18. Mississippi State (+3)
19. Oklahoma State (+4)
20. Virginia Tech (-4)
21. Arizona State (+1)
22. South Carolina (-2)
23. Washington (+1)
24. Clemson (-6)
25. Virginia

No new teams entered this week’s ESPN/USA Softball top 25 rankings. Tennessee (21), Texas Tech (2) and Texas (2) received first-place votes.