The Curse Is Snapped - Florida Gators Reign No. 1
The Curse Is Snapped - Florida Gators Reign No. 1
Florida dominated at the Judi Garman Classic and reign at No. 1. Oregon and Minnesota are in the mix for No. 1.
Florida Reign No. 1
The Florida Gators solidified the No. 1 ranking in college softball this week. This time, there was no inexplicable, cursed loss, like losing to 0-8 Maryland the last time the Gators were No. 1 in the country.The Gators dominated the Judi Garman Classic in California over the weekend. They shut out Iowa, Long Beach State, and No. 18 California in their first three games.
Included was Delanie Gourley throwing a perfect game against Iowa to kick off their weekend.
Then, Florida beat No. 8 UCLA 9-4 in the Bruins' home region followed by Big 10 representative Northwestern 7-4.
Since the Gators and Gourley lost against Maryland on February 18, the Gators have won 12 straight games. Remarkably, nine of those 12 games have been shutout wins.
Top-ranked Florida is now 20-1 on the season. If you want to know how Maryland is doing, the Terrapins are 3-15-1.
Since the biggest upset of the season, Maryland has returned to their offensive struggles. They have been shutout four times since beating Florida and only have wins over Bowling Green and Missouri, which came in extra innings on Sunday.
As for Florida, we presume the Gators will keep the No. 1 spot in next week's polls. But, there might be some changes to the Top 5.
How Did The Rest of the Top 5 Fare Over the Weekend?
In the most recent USA Softball rankings, Florida State and Texas A&M received the most first place votes, but Florida had the most total votes to take the No. 1 spot.You can scratch A&M from the list now. The Aggies lost 1-0 to Houston on Wednesday to end their unbeaten start to the season. But, after losing to the Cougars, A&M swept their weekend invitational tournament, only allowing one run against Georgetown on Friday.
(Kiyoshi Mio/USA TODAY Sports)
Texas A&M is now 19-1, but the loss to Houston will likely drop them out of the Top 5.
The rest of the Top 5 had impressive weekends. Florida State, Auburn, and Oregon all swept their competition.
Former No. 1 Florida State had a tough trip to California for the Mary Nutter College Classic last week, but they returned home to sweep Georgia Tech in an ACC battle.
Auburn, which was in line for No. 1 before losing to James Madison last Sunday, easily took care of inferior competition in their home ballpark. Over the course of four weekend games, the Tigers scored 39 runs and only gave up two runs against Liberty, College of Charleston, and Texas State.
And then there's Oregon. We were not sold on the undefeated Ducks entering the weekend because of their competition level, but Oregon impressed us by traveling to Missouri and dominating their opponents.
Oregon wiped out Maryland 14-0, swept No. 25 Missouri in their home park, and toppled Butler and Stephen F. Austin. The weekend total board over five games was 47 runs scored and only 7 runs allowed.
(Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports)
The Ducks are 19-0 and it looks like they will stay undefeated before starting Pac 12 conference play. They resume a soft non-conference schedule this coming weekend in Eugene, which should allow them to enter the Pac 12 schedule undefeated.
Following Texas A&M's loss, that leaves just two undefeated teams in major college softball. Oregon and ... Minnesota.
Don't Sleep On Minnesota!
Minnesota crept up to No. 11 in the latest rankings, and they even received a first place vote.The Golden Gophers stayed hot over the weekend. They traveled to Baton Rouge and shut out No. 12 LSU wrapped around wins over Troy, Florida Atlantic, and Illinois State.
Minnesota's impressive non-conference schedule has included a win over Texas in Austin, victories over Notre Dame and North Carolina State in Raleigh, sweeping the Fresno State Tournament, and now shutting out LSU in Baton Rouge.
After the UCLA Bruins had a rough weekend at the Judi Garman Classic losing to Florida and Baylor, we expect Minnesota to bump the Bruins out of the Top 10.
How far will Minnesota climb, though? We'll see if they get more respect from voters as one of two remaining unbeaten teams.
Next up for the Gophers is another long-distance road trip, this time to Seattle. The itinerary includes two games against No. 7 Washington, two games against Seattle University, and one game against South Dakota. If Minnesota is still undefeated after facing the Huskies twice in their home ballpark, they should be a Top 5 team before their next extreme road adventure.