After winning both Alabama’s and the SEC’s first NCAA Women’s College World Series title last spring, the Crimson Tide softball team has been ranked preseason No. 1 by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Alabama received 25 of 31 possible first-place votes, while national championship runner-up Oklahoma received five and California one.
OU and Cal are ranked preseason Nos. 2 and 3 respectively, while Arizona State and Oregon round out the Top 5.
The SEC has seven teams—No. 6 Tennessee, 8-Missouri, 9-Georgia, 10-LSU, 14-Florida and 17-Texas A&M—represented in the preseason Top 25.
The Crimson Tide begins the 2013 season on Feb. 8 at the UNI Dome Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where they’ll play Illinois and Northern Iowa.
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