ORLANDO – On the heels of its third straight 40-win season, the UCF softball team has been pegged to finish fifth out of 10 programs in its inaugural season as a member of the Big 12 Conference this spring, as announced in the Big 12’s preseason poll release Wednesday afternoon.
Among the three softball newcomers, the Knights were ranked the highest, picked above BYU (7th) and Houston (10th), and at the time of release the softball team’s No. 5 preseason ranking represents the second highest for any UCF team in preseason projections by Big 12 coaches thus far, behind only UCF women’s tennis’ No. 4 preseason ranking.
The three-time defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners, the unanimous favorites, received nine of 10 total first-place votes in the poll en route to their No. 1 selection, with second-place Texas garnering the final first-place vote. The Oklahoma State Cowgirls were picked to finish third, and Baylor was ranked fourth just ahead of the Knights.
In rounding out the final five spots in the Big 12’s preseason poll, Texas Tech was picked to finish sixth, followed by BYU, Kansas (8th), Iowa State (9th) and Houston.
The Knights return 17 players from the 2023 roster to this spring, joined by 10 newcomers consisting of three transfers and a seven-member freshman class that was ranked No. 16 in the nation by Extra Inning Softball on National Signing Day Nov. 9, 2022.
UCF will commence its spring campaign with its annual Black & Gold Classic tournament hosted at the UCF Softball Complex, beginning with a season-opening twin bill against Howard and UConn Feb. 8. The Knights will conclude the tournament with three more games throughout the remainder of the weekend against Seattle, Georgia State and one more against the Huskies.
Complete Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll (First-place votes denoted in parenthesis)
1. Oklahoma (9) – 81 points
2. Texas (1) – 73
3. Oklahoma State – 62
4. Baylor – 59
5. UCF – 48
6. Texas Tech – 35
7. BYU – 28
8. Kansas – 27
9. Iowa State – 20
10. Houston – 17
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