A day after receiving its highest preseason ranking ever at No. 13 in the first ESPN.com/USA Softball poll of the season, the Tennessee Lady Vol softball team has learned that it will start the 2005 campaign in the 14th slot according to the newly released USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) rankings. The Lady Vols are one of four teams from the Southeastern Conference to be represented in the listing as LSU, Georgia and Alabama each made the Top 25.
“We are always honored to be recognized by our peers,” said Lady Vol Co-Head Coach Ralph Weekly. “As every coach in the country will tell you, it’s where you finish a season that really counts. This is a very young team with no seniors. I think the early part of the schedule will be a challenge for us, but we will be a better team come tournament time.”
California, last year’s national runner-up in the Women’s College World Series, will open the season in the top spot after picking up 14 first-place votes from a poll of 30 Division I head coaches representing each conference.
Two-time defending national champion UCLA received 12 first-place nods to rate second, while fellow league power and six-time NCAA titlist Arizona gives the Pac-10 Conference the top three positions in the rankings. Two of last season’s Women’s College World Series participants, Oklahoma and defending SEC champion LSU, sit at fourth and fifth, respectively.
Future Lady Vol opponents Washington and Alabama are ranked 11th and 12th, respectively, while the rest of the Top 25 includes: Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon State, Baylor, Nebraska, Fresno State, Long Beach State, South Florida, Illinois, Georgia Tech, Southern Illinois and Hofstra. SEC squads Auburn and Florida also received votes in the rankings.
The Orange & White are currently scheduled to match-up against 10 USA Today/NFCA ranked teams: California, LSU, Washington, Georgia, Michigan, Alabama, Oregon State, Baylor, Long Beach State and Nebraska. The Lady Vols will christen their 2005 campaign against the Central Florida Golden Knights at the Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, Fla., on Feb. 4 at noon.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll – Preseason
The USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I Preseason Top 25 Softball Poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I head coaches representing each conference. Final 2004 records are shown. First-place votes are in parenthesis.

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