Jan. 24, 2012

ESPN.Com/USA Softball Poll - No. 3

USA Today/NFCA Top-25 Poll - No. 4

BERKELEY - After finishing the 2011 campaign as the No. 5 team in the country according to both polls and the final Women's College World Series standings, the California softball team starts 2012 as the third and fourth best teams, according to the preseason rankings released Tuesday.

The ESPN.com/USA Softball poll placed the Golden Bears at No. 3 while the USA Today/NFCA standings hold Cal at No. 4.

Cal begins its march to Oklahoma City on Feb. 10 with a 10:30 a.m. game against No. 9/14 Tennessee in Tempe, Ariz.

ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll - Cal at No. 3
-With the No. 3 laudation, the poll placed Cal two spots ahead of its final 2011 ranking
-Arizona State claimed 19 of the 20 first-place votes with No. 4 Florida receiving the other -The Bears will face off against 10 teams in the top 25 and 15 squads that are either ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes
-Seven of the schools in the preseason top eight participated in the WCWS with No. 8 Arizona being the lone exception, having failed to make it out of the Tucson Super Regional
-The Pac-12 leads the way with seven teams ranked in the top 25 with six teams each making it from the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference
-Of the teams ranked in the preseason poll, five squads have athletes on the 2012 USA Softball women's national team, including senior Valerie Arioto
-In total, 16 of the Top 25 schools had athletes or coaches compete with the 2011 USA Softball women's national team or the 2011 USA Softball junior women's national team, including Arioto and freshman Cheyenne Cordes

USA Today/NFCA Top-25 Poll - Cal at No. 4
-The poll has the Bears as the No. 4 team, one spot higher than its final 2011 ranking had Cal
-The Bears will face off against nine teams in the top 25 and 17 squads that are either ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes
-The Pac-12 Conference led the way with seven teams in the poll, while the Big XII and the SEC each had six -Arizona State was the unanimous favorite
-The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference

ESPN.com/USA Softball 2012 Preseason Poll

(Parenthesis denotes first place votes)

Dropped Out: None
New to Poll: None

Others receiving votes: Syracuse (37); Ohio State (18); Tulsa (15); BYU (8); North Carolina (8); DePaul (6); San Diego State (6); Texas Tech (6); Auburn (3); Fresno State (3); South Florida (3); Florida State (2); Lipscomb (2); Louisville (2); Northwestern (2); Fordham (1); UMASS (1); UNLV (1)

USA Today/NFCA 2012 Preseason Poll

(Parenthesis denotes first place votes)

Dropped Out: No. 25 DePaul

Others Receiving Votes: DePaul 23, Syracuse 18, Georgia Tech 17, Notre Dame 12, Fresno St. 10, East Carolina 8, Hawai`i 7, Hofstra 7, San Diego St. 6, North Carolina 5, Texas Tech 5, Florida St. 2, Massachusetts 2, BYU 1, Fordham 1, New Mexico St. 1.