University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Ranked in Top 10 in Year-End Polls
June 13, 2012 | Softball
June 13, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Following a season in which the University of Tennessee softball team won the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title and appeared in the Women's College World Series for a fifth time, the Lady Vols were ranked in the top 10 in a pair of final polls for the 2012 season.
The Big Orange was ranked sixth in the 2012 USA Today/NCFA Top 25 poll, while it was rated seventh in the ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings, both of which were released on Tuesday.
Tennessee concluded the year with a record of 52-14, marking the seventh time in program history that the team won 50 or more games. UT secured a spot in the WCWS in dramatic fashion, coming back to beat Virginia Tech in consecutive games to conclude the Knoxville Regional. A week later it downed Georgia in the third and final game of the Super Regionals to punch a ticket to Oklahoma City.
The 2012 campaign also saw the Lady Vols rattle off 19 consecutive victories, stretching from April 4 against #9/10 Georgia to a tough, 2-1 (8 inn.) loss to #7 Florida in the SEC Tournament semifinals on May 11. The occurrence marked Tennessee's longest winning streak since winning a school record 26 straight games from March 17-April 28, 2007.
The Orange and White never dropped out of either poll during the year, as it entered the season ranked No. 9 by ESPN.com/USA Softball and No. 14 in the USA Today/NFCA poll. The team vaulted as high as No. 5 in both polls on May 8.
Tennessee was one of five teams from the SEC to appear in the final rankings, led by national champion Alabama (No. 1/No. 1), LSU (No. 7/No. 6), Georgia (No. 10/No. 10) and Florida (No. 18/No. 16). Arkansas and Kentucky each received votes in both polls.
The Lady Vols hold wins over all of the SEC schools that were ranked in the final poll along with triumphs over Arizona State (No. 4/No. 4) and Louisville (No. 17/No. 18).
UT finds itself ranked in both season-ending polls for the eighth consecutive year, also marking its fifth appearance in the final Top 10 of each.
2012 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Final Poll - June 12
Rank, Team, Record, Points, Last Poll
1. Alabama, 60-8, 748, 3
2. Oklahoma, 54-10, 711, 4
3. California, 58-7, 681, 1
4. Arizona State, 53-11, 666, 2
5. Oregon, 45-18, 622, 12
6. Tennessee, 52-14, 590, 5
7. LSU, 40-25, 556, RV
8. South Florida, 50-14, 526, 19
9. Texas, 47-13, 484, 8
10. Georgia, 45-17, 464, 11
11. Missouri, 47-14, 431, 10
12. Louisiana-Lafayette, 53-6, 409, 7
13. Arizona, 38-19, 360, 17
14. Washington, 39-19, 345, 18
15. Michigan, 42-17, 324, 21
16. Hofstra, 42-15, 300, NR
17. Louisville, 55-5, 282, 9
18. Florida, 48-13, 258, 6
19. Texas A&M, 41-18, 222, 14
20. UCLA, 36-20, 173, 15
21. Stanford, 40-19, 150, 16
22. Hawai'i, 44-9, 129, 13
23. Syracuse, 43-16, 77, 25
24. North Carolina, 43-15, 58, 22
25. Oregon State, 36-23, 36, RV
Dropped Out: No. 20 Florida State, No. 21 Texas Tech and No. 23 Baylor
Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame 22, Florida State 17, Northwestern 16, Texas Tech 16, BYU 12, Kentucky 11, Baylor 9, Arkansas 8, Virginia Tech 6 and Tulsa 4.
2012 ESPN.com/USA Softball Division I Top 25 Final Poll - June 12
Rank, Team, Record, Points, Last Poll
1. Alabama, 60-8, 500, 3
2. Oklahoma, 54-10, 480, 4
3. California, 58-7, 459, 1
4. Arizona State, 53-11, 441, 2
5. Oregon, 45-18, 414, 12
6. LSU, 40-25, 395, RV
7. Tennessee, 52-14, 389, 5
8. South Florida, 50-14, 354, 22
9. Louisiana-Lafayette, 53-6, 303, 10
10. Georgia, 45-17, 302, 11
11. Missouri, 47-14, 297, 9
12. Texas, 47-13, 294, 8
13. Arizona, 38-19, 233, 15
14. Washington, 39-19, 223, 18
15. Michigan, 42-17, 216, 19
16. Florida, 48-13, 196, 6
17. Hofstra, 42-15, 187, NR
18. Louisville, 55-5, 171, 7
19. Texas A&M, 41-18, 141, 13
20. Stanford, 40-19, 89, 17
21. UCLA, 36-20, 68, 14
22. Florida State, 47-16, 52, 20
23. Hawai'i, 44-9, 47, 16
24. Syracuse, 43-16, 46, RV
25. North Carolina, 43-15, 39, 21
Dropped Out: No. 23 Texas Tech, No. 24 Oregon State (24) and No. 25 Tulsa Others Receiving Votes: Texas Tech 35, Oregon State 34, Baylor 16, Georgia Tech 13, Notre Dame 11, San Diego State 10, Virginia Tech 9, Arkansas 7, Northwestern 6, Tulsa 6, Kentucky 5, BYU 4, Texas State 4, South Alabama 4 and Massachusetts 1.
