NCAA rankings?

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I saw this on another site - not sure where the ranking comes from but here goes...

2014 Rankings
RK TEAM RECORD PVS
1 Florida (15) 16-0 1
2 Tennessee (4) 13-0 3
3 Arizona State (1) 17-0 4
4 Michigan 12-2 5
5 UCLA 16-0 9
6 Oregon 14-1 8
7 Washington 13-2 2
7 Kentucky 13-2 6
9 Arizona 13-1 14
10 Alabama 12-3 7
11 Florida State 13-1 10
12 Baylor 12-3 15
13 Oklahoma 10-5 13
14 Stanford 14-3 11
15 Nebraska 9-5 12
16 South Alabama 11-1 19
17 Georgia 12-1 17
18 Texas A&M 12-4 16
19 Missouri 7-3 18
20 Minnesota 12-1 20
21 LSU 12-5 23
22 Tulsa 13-2 21
23 Notre Dame 10-3 24
24 Arkansas 13-3 NR
25 Louisiana-Lafaye 9-5-1 22

Can't really argue with the list so early in the season. 3 Big Ten teams in the top 25 - no Northwestern - but Nebraska and Minnesota?

 

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There are three "major" cited polls out there......the USA Today/NFCA, the ESPN/USA Softball and the CollegeSportsMadness.com poll..........I tend to only look at the NFCA which is voted on by 32 coaches, one from each conference.

https://nfca.org/index.php/component/nfca/?top25=1&list=1&year=2014&pdiv=div1

 

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The polls aren't accurate this early in the season because some teams start too high based on past years' performance (e.g. OK, TX), some teams play very weak nonconference schedules and pollsters haven't seen enough to make an accurate ranking. They improve during conference schedule as more ranked teams play each other and there are also more results with common opponents.

Nebraska started high because of last year's finish in WCWS. Minnesota got ranked by beating LSU 1-0 the first weekend.

NCAA Softball website has 3 rankings - ESPN/USA Softball, USA Today/NFCA Coaches and their own RPI ranking (not showing 2014 yet).

 

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yeah, Northwestern will eventually get there. They are playing well, at least for now.

 

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The polls aren't accurate this early in the season because some teams start too high based on past years' performance (e.g. OK, TX), some teams play very weak nonconference schedules and pollsters haven't seen enough to make an accurate ranking. They improve during conference schedule as more ranked teams play each other and there are also more results with common opponents.

Nebraska started high because of last year's finish in WCWS. Minnesota got ranked by beating LSU 1-0 the first weekend.

NCAA Softball website has 3 rankings - ESPN/USA Softball, USA Today/NFCA Coaches and their own RPI ranking (not showing 2014 yet).

Who votes in the USA TODAY/ NFCA Coaches poll?

 

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

I think weekly polls are "accurate" for what they are....weekly opinions of the pollsters....as the season progresses, and the teams and landscape changes, the polls will reflect it.

 

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Who votes in the USA TODAY/ NFCA Coaches poll?

NFCA DI TOP 25 COMMITTEE

 

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NFCA DI TOP 25 COMMITTEE

All coaches ?

 

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There are three "major" cited polls out there......the USA Today/NFCA, the ESPN/USA Softball and the CollegeSportsMadness.com poll..........I tend to only look at the NFCA which is voted on by 32 coaches, one from each conference.

https://nfca.org/index.php/component/nfca/?top25=1&list=1&year=2014&pdiv=div1

The great thing about the NFCA site is they provide access to all their weekly polls for the current season and all the way back to 1995. This one from 1995 shows how much things have changed.

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Previous
1	UCLA (17)			2
2	Arizona (3)			1
3	UNLV			4
4	Cal State Fullerton			3
5	Louisiana-Lafayette			6
6	Iowa
7	Cal State Northridge			7
8	Fresno State			5
9	Michigan			9
10	Hawaii			13
11	Florida State			10
12	Oklahoma			17
13	Princeton			22
14	California			11
15	Washington			19
16	South Carolina			14
17	Oklahoma State			12
18	Nebraska			15
19	Notre Dame
20	Nicholls State			16
21	Sacramento State			8
22	Illinois-Chicago			20
23	Missouri			18
24	Illinois State			23
25	Connecticut

 

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All coaches ?

All head coaches according to the blurb at the top of the poll that BradWire quoted. Looking at the committee list, they can only serve 2 consecutive terms of 2 years each.

 

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Polls are polls. I just don't know how much anyone in softball can know about all the different teams. Certainly much of the rankings are based on rep. there is no way the coaches on the committee can be paying close attention to the other teams games that they won't be playing. We have known that about NCAA football for ages - we really can't expect softball coaches to be any more in depth. Especially with the lack of televised games. But that is what is great about the post season tournament. Nothing ranking wise beforehand matters.

 

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I expect the coaches that serve on the NFCA committees try harder than the average pollster for other polls. I also think coaches are more understanding of the ups and downs of a season than sports writers. That said, NFCA should increase the number of pollsters from the major conferences since they are only trying to rank the top 25.

The rankings do have an impact on the NCAA tournament as they affect which teams get at-large berths and the seeding of teams for Regionals and Super Regionals.

 

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Mark ... by far the most accurate (and important) polls anywhere are the 10-U and 12-U fastpitch ones ... everyone knows these teams!