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A topsy-turvy week across the nation saw surprisingly little change throughout our rankings, thanks to a plethora of top teams losing at least one game as part of this week’s action.
Three teams took their first losses of the season, leaving just Florida State and Alabama undefeated.
Here’s our weekly rankings as compiled by our college correspondent Justin McLeod, publisher of Justin’s World of Softball (JWOS).
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1. Florida State Seminoles (22-0, last week: 1)
The defending champion ‘Noles remain undefeated, taking victories over Louisiana Tech, Toledo, Dartmouth, and a pair of games from UCF, all in hard-fought matchups.
2. UCLA Bruins (17-1, last week: 2)
The Bruins hold strong in the Top 2, with a 3-1 loss to Michigan the only thing holding the squad from leapfrogging FSU. The defeat was the first of UCLA’s season and put a damper on a week that included a pair of fairly dominant wins over then-#3 Florida.
3. Oklahoma Sooners (15-2, last week: 5)
An abbreviated week due to cold temperatures left the Sooners with just two games, both of which they won, over Oregon State and Louisiana-Lafayette.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (20-0, last week: 6)
The Tide remained perfect on the year in a sweep through their hosted tournament that also included Michigan State, Saint Francis, and Southern Miss.
5. Florida Gators (21-2, last week: 3)
Week Four began with the Gators’ first loss of the season, to UCLA, and also saw UF go down in a rematch between the two teams later in the week.
6. Tennessee Lady Vols (16-2, last week: 7)
Rain cancelled the Lady Vols’ final two games at the Judi Garman Classic, against Michigan and Oregon, leaving the squad 3-0 on the week with a trio of mid-major wins.
7. Washington Huskies (16-3, last week: 4)
The Huskies went 2-2 at the Garman, losing to Florida and Michigan, with wins over Auburn (nine innings) and Cal State Fullerton.
8. Georgia Bulldogs (18-2, last week: 8)
A loss to Virginia Tech was the sole blemish on the Bulldogs’ week in Athens, as they went 3-1 on the week with a rematch win over VT and a pair of victories over UAB.
9. LSU Tigers (18-4, last week: 11)
Beth Torina’s Bayou Bengals took a loss to Indiana, but dominated the upset-minded Stephen F. Austin in a pair of games and went 4-1 on the week.
10. Arizona Wildcats (14-5, last week: 12)
Mike Candrea put together a solid tournament field, and his Wildcats breezed through it, with a run-rule win and two that took extra innings enroute to a 5-0 week’s showing.
11. Texas Longhorns (16-3, last week: 9)
The Longhorns tripled their season’s losses, falling to Wisconsin and Arizona State to end the weekend after beating the same two teams, as well as Princeton, earlier in the tournament.
12. South Carolina Gamecocks (17-2, last week: 13)
The Gamecocks’ winning streak stands at fourteen games after a week in Clearwater; the weekend’s 5-0 record included victories over South Florida, Troy, and Ball State.
13. Texas Tech Red Raiders (17-1, last week: 15)
Hosting a pair of upstart in-state teams in North Texas and UT-Arlington, the Red Raiders swept through the field, finishing the weekend with four wins.
14. Indiana Hoosiers (17-2, last week: 10)
The Hoosiers took a 1-0 loss to Stephen F. Austin to end their season-opening winning streak, then turned around and bested LSU in their home ballpark. The Hoosiers ended the tournament 3-2, with a two-game split against Illinois State.
15. Arkansas Razorbacks (18-3, last week: 17)
The Hogs were perfect in their hosted Wooo Pig Classic, run-ruling Omaha to start the week and finishing with a doubleheader sweep over Boston.
16. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (15-3, last week: 16)
Cold temperatures in Norman, Oklahoma shortened the Cajuns’ week, leaving them with just a 1-1 record on the week, including a win over Oregon State and a loss to Oklahoma.
17. Wisconsin Badgers (17-2, last week: 19)
After a loss to Texas—just the Badgers’ second on the season—the team rebounded with a Saturday sweep that included victories over Texas and Arizona State.
18. Northwestern Wildcats (14-4, last week: 21)
The Wildcats took a hard-luck 1-0 loss to Stanford, but finished the week 3-1 with two shutout wins, and outscoring their opponents 17-3.
19. Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-6, last week: NR)
The five-team tournament in Tucson this weekend included no easily-winnable games, but the Gophers managed to chalk four of their five up into the Win column, including a run-rule defeat of upstart Kent State and a 5-1 win over James Madison. A 2-0 loss to Arizona was the only defeat.
20. Kentucky Wildcats (12-7, last week: NR)
The Wildcats return to our rankings after their first perfect week of the season, a shortened week that saw the squad record three victories, including over Saint Louis, Southern Illinois, and Murray State.
21. Auburn Tigers (16-4, last week: NR)
The Tigers are back in the Top 25 after an impressive showing at the Judi Garman Classic that included a dominant win over Loyola Marymount, as well as an 8-0 win over Oregon and a tight 8-6 loss to Washington.
22. Stanford Cardinal (16-2, last week: NR)
The Cardinal continued their red-hot start to the season and ran their winning streak to 10 games, taking a 1-0 victory over Northwestern and outscoring opponents 32-10.
23. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (14-5, last week: NR)
The Cowgirls posted a perfect 4-0 record this week, a slate of games that included a pair of wins over McNeese State, including a run-rule over the “other” Cowgirls and an additional pair of run-rule wins.
24. Virginia Tech Hokies (16-3, last week: NR)
The Hokies pulled off an extra-inning victory over Georgia and took home a pair of wins over UAB, but fell in a five-inning, run-rule rematch against UGA.
T25. Arizona State Sun Devils (15-6, last week: NR)
The Sun Devils join our rankings for the first time in the regular season, despite another lackluster 3-2 showing at their hosted tournament over the weekend: The Devils swept Princeton in two games, split with Texas, and lost a single game matchup against Wisconsin.
T25. Boise State Broncos (14-2, last week: NR)
The Broncos join our rankings for the first time in 2019 as they ride a 13-game winning streak and are coming off of a week that saw wins over Long Beach State, Florida Gulf Coast, UC Davis, and Illinois-Chicago.