Twice-defending national champions Oklahoma top the Extra Inning Softball Top 25 preseason poll.
Oklahoma, UCLA, and Oklahoma State were a unanimous 1-2-3 in the poll, with the Bruins checking in as the top-rated PAC-12 team and the Cowgirls making the top-3 a primarily Big 12 affair.
The SEC leads all conferences with eight teams in the preseason Top 25. Other conferences represented in this week’s rankings include the PAC-12 (5), ACC (4), Big 12 (3), Big 10 (2), the American (1), the Sun Belt (1), and Conference USA (1).
As a preseason poll, voters were instructed that both prognostication of the season to come and relying on last year’s completed results were acceptable criterion. Five teams that were not listed in the final Extra Inning Softball regular-season poll of 2022 appear in the 2023 preseason poll.
Extra Inning Softball‘s Top 25 voting group includes working media members who regularly cover softball, as well as a group of coaches and SIDs.
| Ranking | School | 2022 Final RPI Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma | 1 |
| 2 | UCLA | 3 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | 4 |
| 4 | Florida State | 5 |
| 5 | Florida | 11 |
| 6 | Northwestern | 10 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 15 |
| 8 | Stanford | 31 |
| 9 | Clemson | 12 |
| 10 | Virginia Tech | 2 |
| 11 | Alabama | 9 |
| 12 | Arkansas | 7 |
| 13 | Texas | 6 |
| 14 | LSU | 24 |
| 15 | Georgia | 18 |
| 16 | UCF | 14 |
| 17 | Oregon | 17 |
| 18 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 26 |
| 19 | Kentucky | 21 |
| 20 | Washington | 16 |
| 21 | Nebraska | 30 |
| 22 | Notre Dame | 22 |
| 23 | Auburn | 34 |
| 24 | Arizona | 32 |
| 25 | North Texas | 44 |
