UT Softball ranked among the best in the land

The three major national softball polls were released this week and Tennessee is ranked in the top 15 one each of those polls to begin the season.

The Lady Vols came in tied at 11th on the //ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll, sharing the spot with LSU, and were ranked 12th on the USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches’ Poll, the organizations announced on Tuesday. It marks the 17th consecutive season UT is ranked in those polls to begin the season. In its second-ever preseason poll, Softball America placed the Lady Vols at 14th, also released on Tuesday.

Once again, the SEC is the most represented league in the top 25 rankings, tabbing nine teams on the NFCA and SA polls, and eight in the USA Softball rankings, where Alabama sits atop of the chart.

The 2020 USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference.

The //ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball Regions as well as members of the National and Local media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country.

Last season, the Lady Vols finished the year ranked 11th on the //ESPN.com/USA Softball list and 12th on the USA Today/NFCA ledger. 2019 marked the 16th consecutive year that the program earned a ranking in the final national polls.

Tennessee was also ranked 12th on FloSoftball’s preseason rankings and 14th on D1Softball’s preseason poll. Additionally, the Lady Vols were projected to finish second in the SEC in 2020 by league coaches, recently.

The Orange and White begin their season at the competitive Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., on Feb. 8 against Northwestern, ranked 14th on the NFCA poll and 15th in the USA Softball standings, and then head on to Puerto Vallarta Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge Feb. 13-15. In their first two weekends of action the Lady Vols will see four teams ranked in the polls and contended in the 2019 playoffs including No. 5/5 Arizona, No. 22/22 Arizona State and No. 6/6 Texas.

Single-game tickets are now on sale at AllVols.com. They can also be purchased by calling the ticket office at (865) 656-1200 or by visiting Thompson-Boling Arena's street-level ticket office.