Tide Softball Keeps Top Three In Rankings

The University of Alabama softball team remains in the top three of both national softball polls after the Crimson Tide swept No. 15 Mississippi State and split a doubleheader against no. 4 Florida last week.

Alabama maintained its rankings from last week in both polls. The Crimson Tide (24-3 overall, 6-2 in the SEC) is ranked No. 2 in the USA Today/NFCA top 25 poll and remains ranked third in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. Both rankings were released Tuesday morning.

Arizona State solidified its hold on the top spot in both surveys. The Sun Devils (30-1) earned all 28 first-place votes in the USA Today/NFCA poll. The Sun Devils lead the Tide in total voting points by a margin of 700 to 657. ASU had 17 first-place votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll while second-ranked UCLA had three and third-ranked Alabama did not receive a first-place vote.

The Tide remains the highest ranked Southeastern Conference team in both national polls. Florida, Tennessee and LSU also are ranked in the top 10. The Gators rank third in the USA Today poll and fourth in the ESPN.com poll while Tennessee is eighth by USA Today/NFCA and ninth by ESPN.com/USA Softball. LSU ranks 10th in both polls.

Two other SEC opponents – Mississippi State (NR/21) and Georgia (20/22) – also are ranked in the surveys this week.

The Alabama softball team will continue its road swing with two games at the Chattanooga Showdown in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Wednesday, March 19. Alabama will open its stay with a single game against Kent State (12-5) at 1 p.m. and then in the night cap face host UT-Chattanooga (16-14) at 5 p.m. Both games will be played at Jim Frost Stadium.