Jan. 26, 2000 SEATTLE - Washington's softball team, which finished second in the nation last year at the College World Series, is picked second in the USA Today/NFCA preseason coaches' poll. Defending national champion UCLA tops the list, and fellow Pac-10 member Arizona is ranked fourth. All totaled, seven of the eight Pac-10 schools which sponsor softball are ranked in the top 25, and the other, Oregon, earned enough votes to be just four spots out of the running. Also ranked from the league are Arizona State (ninth), Oregon State (11th), California (12th), and Stanford (21st). The Huskies, slated to face 15 of the top 25 teams at least once during the regular season, wasted no time in meeting top-ranked opponents. UW opens its eighth season of softball next weekend at the Arizona Softball Classic in Tucson, where they will meet the No. 4 Wildcats and will play two games against No. 5 Southern Mississippi. Both teams advanced to the College World Series a year ago. |
