BYU Softball Enters Top 25 Rankings After Strong Start To 2022 Season
Feb 21, 2022, 12:59 PM
BYU softball is off to a great start in 2022. (Photo courtesy of BYU Photo)
(Photo courtesy of BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – BYU softball has jumped out to an excellent 8-1 start, and it’s being recognized in the rankings.
D1Softball.com, one of the NCAA’s five national rankings, has BYU softball in its latest poll.
Oklahoma and Alabama remain at the top while Auburn, USF, and BYU joined this week's #D1Softball Top 25.
🔗 https://t.co/Mdy1NSxDpl pic.twitter.com/ecAnwGvVy6
— D1Softball (@D1Softball) February 21, 2022
BYU checked in at No. 24 in D1Softball’s new Top 25 rankings after a perfect 4-0 record last week. Head coach Gordon Eakin is in his 20th season leading the program, and they are off to one of the best starts in program history.
Since falling to UNLV in the season opener on February 10, BYU has reeled off eight consecutive victories.
BYU is one of only three teams outside of a power conference to appear in D1Softball.com’s Top 25 rankings.
Success is nothing new to BYU softball. The Cougars have appeared in the NCAA Regionals in the last 16 NCAA Tournaments and they’ve won their conference title every year since 2009.
BYU will have a great chance to climb up the polls this week as they have a Thursday matchup with nationally-ranked Tennessee in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California. The four-game event will begin on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. against Bethune Cookman, then the SEC’s Volunteers at 2 p.m.
BYU follows that up on Friday against California Baptist, then Long Beach State to close out the event on Saturday.
Banner year for women’s sports at BYU
The success of BYU softball is the latest example of BYU’s women’s sports competing at a national level. BYU women’s soccer was a national runner-up before falling to Florida State in the National Championship. In addition, the women’s basketball team is experiencing a historic year that has seen them ranked for nine consecutive weeks, and women’s volleyball finished in the top-10 to go along with a run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
BYU Softball appears in Top 25 rankings
D1Softball.com rankings for the week of February 21, 2022
1. Oklahoma (10-0)
2. Alabama (9-0)
3. Florida (10-0)
4. Florida State (10-0)
5. Washington (9-1)
6. UCLA (7-3)
7. Virginia Tech (8-2)
8. Arkansas (7-3)
9. Duke (8-2)
10. Northwestern (7-2)
11. Oklahoma State (6-4)
12. Oregon (8-1)
13. Clemson (6-3)
14. Missouri (8-3)
15. Kentucky (9-1)
16. Arizona (7-2)
17. Michigan (5-4)
18. Louisiana (6-0)
19. Georgia (9-2)
20. Tennessee (6-3)
21. Auburn (9-1)
22. South Florida (6-2)
23. Arizona State (7-3)
24. BYU (8-1)
25. LSU (6-5)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
