Courtesy of San Diego State Athletics –
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego State softball team is ranked 24th in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, which was released Tuesday. It is the third time the Aztecs have been ranked this preseason and first by a committee of coaches.
SDSU, which is also 23rd by D1Softball and 25th by Softball America in the preseason rankings, garnered 97 points in the initial poll after finishing 19th in the final 2023 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. San Diego State is just ahead of No. 25 Kentucky (79), while No. 20 Northwestern (203), No. 21 Louisiana (189), No. 22 Baylor (173) and No. 23 South Carolina (129) each round out the top 25. Back-to-back-to-back national champion Oklahoma is first in the preseason poll with all 32 first-place votes and 800 votes total.
The Aztecs, who are scheduled to play three teams that made the 2023 Women’s College World Series and 18 games overall against 15 teams who made the 2023 NCAA tournament, are set to play seven of the teams this year in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll, including No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 (tied) Stanford, No. 13 Utah, No. 14 LSU (twice), No. 15 Oregon, No. 18 Nebraska and No. 25 Kentucky.
The USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the DI conferences.
SDSU finished the 2023 campaign with a 39-17 record, advancing to the program’s first super regional after capturing the NCAA Los Angeles Regional, and being ranked No. 18 in the final ESPN/USA Softball poll and 19th in the final USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll. San Diego State, which was one win away from making the Women’s College World Series, won the Mountain West tournament, the first held since 2006, with a perfect 3-0 record after finishing second in regular-season play.
The Aztecs begin 2024 with the SDSU Season Kickoff from Thursday, Feb. 8-to-Sunday, Feb. 11 at SDSU Softball Stadium. The season-opening tournament looks more like the toughest NCAA regional, featuring No. 3 (in last year’s final RPI) Stanford, No. 27 SDSU, No. 28 Minnesota and No. 29 Kentucky, along with UC Santa Barbara. The Aztecs kick off the season against Stanford on Thursday, before meeting Minnesota on Friday, and Kentucky and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
San Diego State Softball Preseason Rankings
No. 23 – DI Softball (Jan. 16)
No. 24 – USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll (Jan. 30) (listed below)
No. 25 – Softball America (Jan. 11)
| Rank | School (First Place Votes) |
Points | Record | 2023 Final Ranking |
| 1 | Oklahoma (32) | 800 | 0-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 731 | 0-0 | 3 |
| 3 | Florida State | 729 | 0-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Stanford | 729 | 0-0 | 4 |
| 5 | Clemson | 579 | 0-0 | 9 |
| 6 | Georgia | 562 | 0-0 | 14 |
| 7 | Washington | 550 | 0-0 | 5 |
| 8 | Texas | 536 | 0-0 | 11 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | 522 | 0-0 | 6 |
| 10 | UCLA | 515 | 0-0 | 13 |
| 11 | Duke | 470 | 0-0 | 10 |
| 12 | Alabama | 423 | 0-0 | 7 |
| 13 | Utah | 383 | 0-0 | 8 |
| 14 | LSU | 368 | 0-0 | 16 |
| 15 | Oregon | 360 | 0-0 | 15 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 334 | 0-0 | 16 |
| 17 | Florida | 252 | 0-0 | 21 |
| 18 | Nebraska | 245 | 0-0 | RV |
| 19 | Auburn | 207 | 0-0 | 20 |
| 20 | Northwestern | 203 | 0-0 | 12 |
| 21 | Louisiana | 189 | 0-0 | 18 |
| 22 | Baylor | 173 | 0-0 | 22 |
| 23 | South Carolina | 129 | 0-0 | 25 |
| 24 | San Diego State | 97 | 0-0 | 19 |
| 25 | Kentucky | 79 | 0-0 | 24 |
Receiving Votes: Virginia Tech (78), Texas A&M (60), Wichita State (49), Liberty (24), California (6), Arizona (5), Boston University (5), McNeese State (5), Miami University (2), Charlotte (1).
