Rankings: The top 25 teams after Week 4, plus players to watch
Week 4 of the 2024 college softball season brought all of the action.
Oklahoma’s historic 71-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday at the bats of Louisiana. Will that loss affect the Sooners’ previous No. 1 ranking? That wasn’t the only upset this week, as eight different ranked teams lost to unranked opponents.
Meanwhile, LSU continued to roll as the nation’s lone undefeated team, and one-loss Texas remained dominant, claiming three mercy-rule wins in the Longhorn Invitational.
So what does all of this mean for this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate top 25 ranking? And who are the top stars right now?
Here’s how the top 25 shakes out, plus players to watch.
Players to watch
Keagan Rothrock, RHP/1B, Florida. The right-handed freshman is making her mark to start this season. She boasts a 0.67 ERA, the fifth-best mark in the SEC, in 62.1 innings pitched. Her 74 strikeouts are tied for the ninth-best mark nationally. She holds an 8-2 record on the season and has played a large role in the Gators’ dominant start.
Keagan Rothrock made history last night‼️
🔸35th complete-game no-hitter in program history and first no-hitter by a freshman since 2020.
🔸First freshman to throw a complete-game no-no at KSP Stadium since 2016.#GoGators | @_kea01 pic.twitter.com/WsdPitajRE
— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) February 24, 2024
Reese Atwood, C/1B, Texas. No one in the game is doing it quite like Atwood. She leads the nation with 37 RBIs, is ranked second with 10 home runs and her .527 batting average is the eighth-best. Atwood needs eight more homers to tie Taylor Hoagland for the Longhorns’ single-season program record. Her impressive start to the season has already made her a two-time Big 12 Player of the Week. Defensively, she boasts a .957 fielding percentage with 39 putouts. Atwood has continued to help lift this Texas team to new heights.
🔥🔥🔥#HookEm | @atwood_reese https://t.co/NGNVwyEKHY pic.twitter.com/etAi32GPKF
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) March 1, 2024
Current top 25 rankings
Here is the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll as of March 5, plus information on each team’s next game.
All times Eastern.
1. Texas (11 first-place votes)
Record: 18-1
Next game: vs. UT Arlington (Wednesday), 7 p.m. on Longhorn Network
2. Oklahoma
Record: 18-1
Next game: vs. Texas A&M Commerce (Wednesday), 7 p.m. on ESPN+
3. LSU
Record: 19-0
Next game: at Kentucky (Friday), 6:30 p.m. on SECN+
4. Duke
Record: 16-1
Next game: at Elon (Tuesday), 5 p.m.
5. Washington
Record: 16-2
Next game: vs. Arizona State (Friday), 9 p.m.
6. Georgia
Record: 15-3
First game: vs. Miami (OH) (Friday), 6 p.m. on SECN+
7. Oklahoma State
Record: 17-2
Next game: vs. Wichita State (Wednesday), 6 p.m. on ESPN+
8. Stanford
Record: 13-4
Next game: vs. Pacific (Wednesday), 7 p.m.
9. Tennessee
Record: 13-4
Next game: at Clemson (Tuesday), 2 p.m. on ACCNX
10. Alabama
Record: 19-1
First game: vs. Florida (Saturday), 3 p.m. on SECN+
11. Clemson
Record: 13-4
Next game: vs. Tennessee (Tuesday), 6 p.m. on ACCNX
12. Missouri
Record: 17-2
Next game: at Kansas City (Wednesday), 5 p.m.
13. Florida
Record: 19-3
Next game: at Alabama (Saturday), 3 p.m. on SECN+
14. Baylor
Record: 11-3
Next game: at Sam Houston (Tuesday), 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+
15. Virginia Tech
Record: 15-3-1
Next game: at Eastern Kentucky (Wednesday), 4 p.m. on ESPN+
16. Florida State
Record: 11-4
Next game: vs. Purdue (Friday), 12:15 p.m.
17. California
Record: 19-2
Next game: vs. Saint Mary’s (Tuesday), 6 p.m.
18. UCLA
Record: 11-6
Next game: vs. Utah (Friday), 10 p.m.
19. Texas A&M
Record: 19-2
Next game: vs. North Texas (Wednesday), 7 p.m. on SECN+
20. Arkansas
Record: 17-4
Next game: vs. Nebraska (Thursday), 5 p.m. on SECN+
21. Kentucky
Record: 13-4
Next game: vs. Bellarmine (Wednesday), 5 p.m. on SECN+
22. South Carolina
Record: 18-2
Next game: vs. USC Upstate (Wednesday), 6 p.m. on SECN+
23. Mississippi State
Record: 17-3
Next game: at Ole Miss (Friday), 7 p.m. on SECN+
24. Arizona
Record: 17-3-1
Next game: at Louisville (Tuesday), 5:30 p.m. on ACCNX
25. Auburn
Record: 12-2-1
Next game: vs. Troy (Tuesday), 6:30 p.m. on SECN+
