A number of top teams fell in this week’s Extra Inning Softball/JWOS Power Rankings for Week 10 after UCLA and Oklahoma had been firmly entrenched at #1 and #2 for several weeks.
The Bruins’ series-opening loss to Oregon and Florida State dropping its conference series to North Carolina were eye-openers… let’s see how our rankings shake out this week.
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1. Oklahoma Sooners (38-2, last week: 2)
The Sooners move into the top spot for the first time this season after a three-game weekend sweep over Kansas.
2. UCLA Bruins (37-2, last week: 1)
A series-opening, one-run loss to Oregon marked the Bruins’ first misstep in conference play though they rebounded to collect the series win.
3. Arizona Wildcats (35-7, last week: 4)
The Wildcats stepped out of conference play this weekend for a three-game series against Grand Canyon and withstood some challenges from the Antelopes to take a three-game sweep.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (42-4, last week: 5)
Bringing Georgia into the Rhoads house, the Crimson Tide never missed a beat, sweeping past the Dawgs in the three-game set and moving to 11-4 in SEC play.
5. Washington Huskies (35-6, last week: 7)
The Huskies swept through a weekend series with Arizona State allowing ASU to break their streak of consecutive shutouts, but still dominated the Sun Devils.
6. LSU Tigers (36-9, last week: 6)
The Tigers dropped the opening game of the series to Kentucky—following what seems to be their regular pattern—but took the series from the Wildcats.
7. Tennessee Lady Vols (32-8, last week: 8)
The Lady Vols moved to 10-5 in conference play with a sweep over Mississippi State last weekend.
8. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (37-4, last week: 9)
Sweeping through yet another conference series, the Cajuns moved to a perfect 18-0 in the Sun Belt with three wins over Appalachian State.
9. Florida State Seminoles (38-7, last week: 3)
The Seminoles lost their second consecutive series—this time to North Carolina—and narrowly avoided a series sweep.
10. Minnesota Golden Gophers (29-10, last week: 10)
Inclement weather limited the Gophers to just a doubleheader against Michigan State for the weekend which the Gophers won.
11. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (32-11, last week: 11)
The Cowgirls swept through a conference series against Iowa State, earning a run-rule win in the series and twice reaching double-digits in scoring.
12. Ole Miss Rebels (30-11, last week: 12)
The Rebels stay put despite dropping a single game in their series against Missouri. A tight back-and-forth series fell the Rebels’ way and puts them at 9-5 in conference play.
13. Texas Longhorns (35-9, last week: 13)
Earning a weekend off before the Red River Rivalry, the Longhorns played a single midweek game, a win over Houston.
14. Virginia Tech Hokies (37-6, last week: 14)
The Hokies split a midweek series with also-ranked James Madison, and swept a weekend series with Virginia. The team has not allowed a run in its last four games.
15. Florida Gators (36-9, last week: 15)
After recording a tight 1-0 midweek result over South Florida, the Gators swept through a conference series against Texas A&M at Davis Diamond.
16. Colorado State Rams (31-6, last week: 16)
Following a one-run loss in the series opener against UNLV, in an important Mountain West series, the Rams rebounded to win the final two games of the series and move to 13-2 in conference play.
17. Texas Tech Red Raiders (33-8, last week: 18)
The Red Raiders enjoyed their finest weekend of Big 12 play yet this season, sweeping past Baylor in a three-game set for the first time in program history.
18. James Madison Dukes (31-7, last week: 17)
The Dukes split a doubleheader in midweek play against Virginia Tech and took a three-game conference series from UNC-Wilmington in sweeping fashion.
19. Northwestern Wildcats (33-7, last week: NR)
In perhaps one of the weekend’s most underrated performances, the Wildcats swept past Wisconsin in a battle of teams looking to earn legitimacy in a tight Big Ten race.
20. South Florida Bulls (32-15, last week: NR)
The Bulls now sit as the only AAC team in our rankings after a weekend sweep over UCF in Orlando that turned a lot of heads. The Bulls are now 10-2 in American conference play.
21. Michigan Wolverines (29-11, last week: 22)
The Wolverines dropped the last game of their three-game set with Ohio State on a walk-off hit by the Buckeyes but dominated the early part of the series.
22. South Carolina Gamecocks (31-12, last week: NR)
The Gamecocks’ wishy-washy season continued with a series win over Auburn, the second-consecutive series win in conference play.
23. Stanford Cardinal (30-7, last week: 23)
After dropping the series opener to Utah by a single run, the Cardinal rebounded with back-to-back wins to close the series. They also recorded a shutout midweek win over Santa Clara.
24. Arkansas Razorbacks (31-14, last week: NR)
In an off-week from conference play, the Hogs went a perfect 5-0, with two wins over Wichita State and a three-game sweep over Furman that saw them outlast the Paladins in a 12-inning back-and-forth affair.
25. Auburn Tigers (33-10, last week: 19)
Despite winning the series opener over South Carolina, the Tigers were dominated in the latter part of the series, losing the final two games by a combined score of 18-5.
Dropped out:Â #20 Arizona State, #21 Georgia, #24 Wisconsin, #25 Central Florida
— Justin McLeod, Extra Inning Softball College Correspondent