ORLANDO – USA Today and the NFCA released the annual joint Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll between the two publications Tuesday morning, a poll in which the Knights were ranked 18th in the nation.
The rankings represent the latest by a major preseason top 25 poll to slot the Knights as a top 18 team in the nation entering the 2023 season, as UCF has also been pegged within the preseason top 18 by D1Softball.com, Softball America, ESPN/USA Softball and Extra Inning Softball. The Knights were also picked to finish first in the American Athletic Conference's preseason coaches poll.
Upon the conclusion of UCF's 2022 campaign, a slate that saw the Knights earn the first NCAA Super Regional berth in program history, the NFCA ranked UCF No. 14 in the nation in its final rankings, marking the highest such finish in the poll in team history.
Oklahoma was a unanimous No. 1 selection in the poll, followed by UCLA, Oklahoma State, Florida and Florida State to round out the top five. Eight programs currently on UCF's 2023 schedule were also included in the rankings, including UCLA (2), Oklahoma State (3), Florida (4), Alabama (9), Georgia (15), Duke (16), Arizona State (22) and Mississippi State (23). The Knights are also the sole member of The American to place among the NFCA's preseason top 25.
Other programs slated to face off against the Knights in 2023 that received votes in the poll are Missouri, Michigan, Louisiana, Cal State Fullerton and Wichita State.
COMPLETE USA TODAY/NFCA PRESEASON TOP 25
- Oklahoma
- UCLA *
- Oklahoma State *
- Florida *
- Florida State
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Northwestern
- Alabama *
- Clemson
- Virginia Tech
- Arizona
- Tennessee
- Washington
- Georgia *
- Duke *
- Stanford
- UCF
- Oregon State
- Kentucky
- Auburn
- Arizona State *
- Mississippi State *
- Oregon
- LSU
Receiving Votes: Missouri * (96), Michigan * (53), Louisiana * (44), Ole Miss (36), Nebraska (16), Georgia Tech (15), Notre Dame (13), San Diego State (10), North Texas (5), Iowa State (6), Baylor (2), Liberty (2), Loyola Marymount (2), Cal State Fullerton * (1), Wichita State * (1).
* Denotes UCF 2023 opponent