Big 12 Softball: Sooners Reclaim Throne, Rest of Big 12 Rises in ESPN Top 25 Poll
For the first time since 2021, the Oklahoma Sooners spent the previous week ranked lower than somebody else in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 Poll. That team, was UCLA, who was 12-0 and deserving of the ranking after Oklahoma dropped a game to Baylor.
Unfortunately for UCLA, the loss to Baylor seemed to awaken the Oklahoma team that we were all expecting to see. After outscoring its first four opponents in the Mary Nutter Classic 36-4, the Sooners set up for a monumental game against UCLA in their own backyard. The Sooners clearly took their dethroning personally, as Patty Gasso’s squad boat raced the Bruins, 14-0 (5 inn.), and consequentially regained the top spot in this week’s poll with all 25 first-place votes.
Oklahoma State rose one spot to No. 3 in this week’s poll after an undefeated weekend in the Troy Cox Classic. The Cowgirls had a pretty manageable weekend but benefitted from Florida’s rough weekend, who lost three games.
Texas split a two-game series against No. 12 Virginia Tech over the weekend and won the second game 8-2. That performance, along with wins over Abilene Christian (8-0, 5 inn.) and Texas Southern (22-0, 5 inn.) moved the Longhorns up to No. 11 this week.
Baylor rose again after another undefeated weekend, including a win over then-No. 23 Maryland. The Bears were dominant again this week and moved up three spots to No. 19.
Here’s a look at the entire ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll for Week 3.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma (25) | 13-1 | 625 | 2 |
| 2 | UCLA | 17-1 | 599 | 1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | 13-1 | 568 | 4 |
| 4 | Clemson | 15-1 | 532 | 5 |
| 5 | Florida State | 15-3 | 513 | 6 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 11-1 | 512 | 9 |
| 7 | Arkansas | 13-3 | 456 | 8 |
| 8 | Stanford | 14-2 | 424 | 11 |
| 9 | Alabama | 11-3 | 364 | 7 |
| 10 | Florida | 11-3 | 362 | 3 |
| 11 | Texas | 11-2-1 | 344 | 13 |
| 12 | Washington | 13-3 | 334 | 10 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 11-4 | 332 | 12 |
| 14 | Duke | 13-3 | 328 | 15 |
| 15 | LSU | 15-1 | 294 | 14 |
| T-16 | Georgia | 12-4 | 235 | 16 |
| T-16 | Kentucky | 10-3-1 | 235 | 18 |
| 18 | Arizona | 10-5 | 180 | 19 |
| 19 | Baylor | 13-1 | 178 | 22 |
| 20 | Oregon | 12-3 | 169 | 24 |
| 21 | Auburn | 15-1 | 151 | 20 |
| 22 | Northwestern | 6-6 | 139 | 17 |
| 23 | Missouri | 12-4 | 73 | 21 |
| 24 | Louisiana | 9-6 | 64 | NR |
| 25 | Texas A&M | 11-4 | 41 | NR |
Dropped out: Maryland, UCF
New to poll: Louisiana, Texas A&M
Others receiving votes: Cal State Fullerton (26), Arizona State (17), California (7), Wichita State (6), Utah (5), Maryland (4), UCF (4), Mississippi State (3), San Diego State (2), Nebraksa (1).
