Here are the latest college softball Power 10 rankings. sifoeeprocess.com's Michella Chester dives into her Week 8 analysis.
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1. Texas (previously 2)
I have Texas back up at No. 1 this week after winning the series over Mississippi State. Both Oklahoma and Texas lost on the same day, but the Longhorns bounced back to win the next two games 7-3 and 7-2.
2. Oklahoma (previously 2)
Oklahoma lost its first series of the year to Tennessee and drops a spot in the rankings because of it. Still a great Tennessee team so not going to move them further, and I didn't think there was anyone below them I could justify moving ahead.
3. Florida (previously 4)
I have Florida at three. The Gators lost a midweek game to UCF then followed it up with a sweep over Auburn. Keagan Rothrock back from injury is a good sign for Florida as she threw just over four scoreless innings in her first game back.
4. LSU (previously 3)
LSU drops a spot to four after losing a top-10 series to South Carolina. Ultimately, I felt like I couldn’t punish them too much for losing a series to a top-10 team, similar to OU moving down just one spot with a series loss.
READ MORE: Tennessee's Karlyn Pickens makes Ƶ softball history with 78.2 mph fastball
5. Texas A&M (previously 6)
Texas AM has been rolling, so I have them closing out my top five. The Aggies had a couple of run rules last weekend and their only series loss is to Florida — a top-three team — and a lot of ranked wins which I value a ton.
6. South Carolina (previously 10)
South Carolina just had to move up after winning the series over LSU. The Gamecocks still have seven losses on the season, so it's hard to push them too high. But they deserved a boost playing what feels like ranked team after ranked team week after week. They have clearly shown what they are capable of both in the circle and offensively, and the seven losses are more of a reflection of their strength of schedule than anything.
7. Oregon (previously 5)
That means I had to push Oregon down a little bit to seven. It's not that they deserved a drop, but I just wanted to reward teams above with more ranked wins over top 10 or 25 competition. The Ducks though are putting up some astronomical numbers. They beat Rutgers twice last week and scored 20 or more runs in both games.
8. Florida State (previously 8)
FSU at eight feels like they should be higher too as they have been on a roll. It is tough to order South Carolina, Oregon and FSU for sure. I did think Oregon needed to stay above the Seminoles for now since they beat them twice this season, so that is the only reason I couldn’t justify moving FSU higher just yet. They do however have a midweek with Florida coming up.
9. UCLA (previously 9)
I have UCLA at nine. They dropped last week, and the Bruins stay around here after sweeping Maryland.
10. Tennessee (previously NR)
And then Tennessee moves in to the Power 10. I have to reward the Vols for winning the series over the top team in the country in Oklahoma. Karlyn Pickens is turning heads left and right. She set the record for fastest pitch a week ago, and then led them to a series win over the Sooners. It was a great response for Tennessee after losing the series to Arkansas just a week prior.
