Big 12 Claims Three of Top Seven Spots in Latest ESPN Softball Top 25

Posted on April 18, 2023

Three of the nation’s top seven softball teams reside in the Big 12 as the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowgirls held on to their spots at No. 1 and No. 3 respectively, and the Texas Longhorns moved up one spot to No. 7 in this week’s rankings despite a loss to Kansas on Friday.

Oklahoma (39-1) went 2-0 last week in its trip to the Miami (OH) Tournament, outscoring Louisville and Miami (OH) by a difference of 23-2 combined. OU will get a chance to avenge its only loss of the season when it heads to Waco this weekend to face No. 19 Baylor in a three-game series.

Oklahoma State (39-4) dropped a game to Iowa State on Sunday but maintained its spot at No. 3 in this week’s rankings. Kenny Gajewski’s squad has a massive series this weekend when it heads to Austin to face the seventh-ranked Longhorns.

Texas (36-9-1) dropped a game to Kansas last week but rallied to win the series and head into a monumental series against Oklahoma State with plenty of momentum.

Baylor (34-10) remains No. 19 in this week’s poll after taking two of three against Texas Tech.

Here’s a look at the entire ESPN Softball Top 25.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS RANKING
1	Oklahoma (25)	39-1	625	1
2	UCLA	39-4	599	2
3	Oklahoma State	39-4	565	3
4	Tennessee	34-5	548	6
5	Florida State	35-8	534	4
6	Clemson	40-5	485	7
7	Texas	36-9-1	457	8
8	Stanford	31-9	410	5
9	Washington	31-9	393	10
10	Duke	36-8	389	13
11	Georgia	33-10	373	9
12	Arkansas	31-12	348	11
13	Alabama	32-12	324	14
14	Florida	31-11	307	15
15	LSU	34-10	256	12
16	Oregon	28-11	232	18
17	Northwestern	28-9	220	20
18	Utah	29-8	209	22
19	Baylor	34-10	206	19
20	Kentucky	25-13-1	154	16
21	Auburn	32-13	128	24
22	Virginia Tech	32-12	112	17
23	Wichita State	36-8	84	23
24	Texas A&M	26-16	54	21
25	Louisiana	33-12	47	25