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Softball polls…
Posted on: January 25, 2025 at 16:10:57 CT
bluetiger_ MU
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Preseason polls are fun to look at it and discuss when everyone is anxious for the season to start, but they really don’t mean much, if you win on the field the polls will take care of themselves. And while polls can tell us how teams are perceived during the season, the so called “eye test”, which is not insignificant, more important is the tournament resume we build that the selection committee uses to seed teams.
Case in point, last year in the preseason NFCA poll we weren’t ranked at all and didn’t even get a single vote. Then we went 5-0 and were ranked #14, then went 10-0 and were ranked #11. And more importantly, by the end of the season had reached the SEC title game for the second time in the last 4 seasons, and earned a top 8 National seed.
So with all those caveats, the ESPN poll a few days ago has us at #15, the exact same as the Softball America poll. Which I think is a pretty fair assessment at this point, before any games are played. However, the D1 Softball poll did not have us in the top 25, but had us in the 26-30 range. D1 Softball was an outlier from the other two published polls in several respects.
Next Tuesday the NFCA preseason poll will be published, which I expect will be more in line with the ESPN poll.
Regardless of where we land in preseason polls, there is no question that with our extremely challenging schedule, we will have a ton of great opportunities for significant wins, win enough of those games and the seeding will take care of itself.
Case in point, last year in the preseason NFCA poll we weren’t ranked at all and didn’t even get a single vote. Then we went 5-0 and were ranked #14, then went 10-0 and were ranked #11. And more importantly, by the end of the season had reached the SEC title game for the second time in the last 4 seasons, and earned a top 8 National seed.
So with all those caveats, the ESPN poll a few days ago has us at #15, the exact same as the Softball America poll. Which I think is a pretty fair assessment at this point, before any games are played. However, the D1 Softball poll did not have us in the top 25, but had us in the 26-30 range. D1 Softball was an outlier from the other two published polls in several respects.
Next Tuesday the NFCA preseason poll will be published, which I expect will be more in line with the ESPN poll.
Regardless of where we land in preseason polls, there is no question that with our extremely challenging schedule, we will have a ton of great opportunities for significant wins, win enough of those games and the seeding will take care of itself.
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Softball polls… - bluetiger_ MU - 1/25 16:10:57