Softball Rankings as of 3/19/07

[El Sidonio]

ESPN.COM/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25
(Records through March 19, 2007)
TEAM

1. TENNESSEE (11) (28-2)
2. ALABAMA (7) (28-1)
3. OKLAHOMA (2) (33-2)
4. TEXAS A&M (25-3)
5. ARIZONA (21-7)
6. MICHIGAN (23-3)
7. ARIZONA ST (29-5)
8. NORTHWESTERN (19-5)
9. LSU (28-4)
10. STANFORD (21-5)
11. TEXAS (23-6)
12. (tie) BAYLOR (27-8)
12. (tie) OREGON (30-3)
14. UCLA (22-6)
15. UL (28-7)
16. WASHINGTON (20-7)
17. ILLINOIS ST (23-6)
18. DEPAUL (16-6)
19. GEORGIA (26-9)
20. GEORGIA TECH (27-7)
21. OREGON ST (20-10)
22. SOUTHN ILLINOIS (21-5)
23. HAWAII (27-7)
24. VIRGINIA TECH (24-9)
25. NC STATE (21-11)

I'm interested in everyone's perspective. I see that Ariz St dropped 5 spots to #7 (likely due to us beating them along with I think one or two other teams beating them this past weekend). However, if my knowledge serves me correct, we stay the same at #15.

Now I know Arizona whooped us, but why is it that we don't move up at least one or two spots in the poll after our mostly stellar performance out in California?

God Bless

GEAUX UL LADY CAJUN SOFTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ChanceEncounter]

Was wondering the same thing. Could it be nothing major happenened to the teams right above us?

[LuLu]

I found this good explanation on the Ultimate College Softball link. I thought it was a good explanation. It was written by someone being called SoftBallOneTwoThree ? There are at least two references to UL. It makes sense to me. What do you think? Here it is:

"The secret to being highly ranked is not just to beat quality opponents, but to not lose to unranked teams.

A team's ranking can be affected far more by who they lose to than who they beat. The reason why Arizona and UCLA's rankings have historically not been affected much by losses is that they very rarely lose to unranked teams.

This year UCLA started the year with no quality wins and one loss to an unranked team and thus plummeted in the polls. Their second loss to an unranked team has so far greatly overshadowed their two wins over ranked teams, and has slowed their rise in the polls. I suspect that this will change quickly once Pac-10 play starts, and their quality wins and losses start to build up.

Oklahoma has several wins over ranked teams, but their two losses to unranked teams is what is keeping them from rising above #3.

Arizona has seven wins over ranked teams, and while they have seven losses, all are to ranked teams, so they haven't dropped much in the polls.

ULL has been a team that has consistently beaten up on unranked teams, but has had only moderate success against ranked teams. They have consistently been ranked in the polls based more on their ability to not lose any games that they should win than on their ability to consistently beat good teams.

What this means is that if you play in a conference with a lot of ranked teams, losses to those teams don't hurt you much. Thus as the Pac-10 teams enter conference play, they are not affected so much by losses to other Pac-10 teams.

You have to remember that during the season the polls exist just to give the fans something to talk about. Regular season play is for the purpose of determining the seedings in the regionals. Each team is playing for an opportunity to host a regional and improve their chances of advancing, and the polls have little to do with that. Just ask UL."

[angellebertrand]

What the hell? I thought we'd be in the top ten! I mean sure we lost to Arizona State, but we BEAT them before that. I agree with you Sid, we definitely should have moved up. How many teams have beat them? And LSwho? #9, what's up with that?!

[lcitsh]

What the h? I thought we'd be in the top ten! I mean sure we lost to Arizona State, but we BEAT them before that. I agree with you Sid, we definitely should have moved up. How many teams have beat them? And LSwho? #9, what's up with that?!

That was Arizona we lost to, not State, and ASU did not have a good weekend, losing to us and Notre Dame (unranked). It's more than likely we didn't move up because very few ahead of us lost enough to be dropped below us.

[angellebertrand]

My bad,they're both so good. It's like the twin thing, its hard to tell them apart!

[shof]

If you look at the teams above us now, most (if not all) are traditional softball powers, and only one (Arizona) has as many losses as we do. I'm not at all upset or disappointed at where we sit today. As for LSU, they only have 4 losses to our 7. Anyway, isn't it great when you can b*tch about "only being ranked #15 nationally?"

[El Sidonio]

According to the USA Today/NFCA.org (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) poll, we moved up two spots to #15.

How many friggin polls does USA Today sponsor?

Anyhoo.

God Bless

GEAUX UL RAGIN CAJUNS SOFTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1