Defending national champion Arizona State tops the USA Today/NFC and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 preaseon polls.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. The Sun Devils were a unanimous No. 1 decision, followed by Florida, Alabama, California and Oklahoma.
The Sun Devils received 19 of 20 first-place votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, with the lone exception going to Florida. Alabama, California, Florida and Missouri rounded out the top five.
ASU returns five starting position players and all three of its pitchers from the national championship team, including All-Americans Katelyn Boyd and Dallas Escobedo.
Arizona, which failed to advance to the College World Series last year, is eighth in both polls. The Wildcats also return a veteran team, led by pitcher Kenzie Fowler and infielder Brigette Del Ponte.
The Pac-12 is well represented in both lists, with seven of the nine schools that field softball teams ranked among the top 25: ASU (1/1), California (4/3), Arizona (8/8), Stanford (9/10), Washington (12/14), Oregon (16/11) and UCLA (19/13).
The Sun Devils and Wildcats both open the 2012 campaign on Feb. 9 in the Kajikawa Classic, hosted by ASU.
