| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior |
| 1 |  | Oklahoma | Oklahoma claimed their third national title in five years after outlasting Florida in the WCWS Championship Series. | 6 |
| 2 |  | Florida | Florida lost to Oklahoma in the WCWS Championship Series in heartbreaking fashion. | 1 |
| 3 |  | Oregon | Oregon battled back from the Washington loss in the WCWS to get to the WCWS Semifinals. | 3 |
| 4 |  | Washington | Washington had an excellent season with a WCWS Semifinals appearance and they only lose two seniors. | 8 |
| 5 |  | LSU | LSU was utterly resilient in the NCAA Tournament and ended up with another WCWS appearance. | 22 |
| 6 |  | UCLA | Rachel Garcia and the Bruins are going to be tough for the next three years after another WCWS trip in 2017. | 9 |
| 7 |  | Baylor | The Bears had a short stay in OKC but they will be back as Baylor has built a very strong program. | 11 |
| 8 |  | Texas A&M | It was a tough two games for the Aggies at the WCWS but they will be a very difficult team to slow down in the future. | 12 |
| 9 |  | Arizona | Arizona is in excellent shape despite missing out on a trip to the WCWS in 2017. | 5 |
| 10 |  | Florida State | The Seminoles are relentlessly tough to deal with at home but the lack of quality in the ACC hurts them at times. | 4 |
| 11 |  | Tennessee | Tennessee ran into a Texas A&M that got hot offensively in the Knoxville Regional. | 10 |
| 12 |  | Alabama | Crimson Tide overachieved a little bit in 2017 as the pitching carried them back to Super Regionals against Florida. | 16 |
| 13 |  | Auburn | Auburn ran into a buzzsaw in Oklahoma as the Tigers just did not get enough timely hits in their Super Regional. | 7 |
| 14 |  | Utah | Utes took Washington to the limit in the Seattle Super Regional and further established themselves as a power. | 13 |
| 15 |  | Minnesota | The Golden Gophers fell victim to a horrendous draw and fell short at Alabama. | 2 |
| 16 |  | Kentucky | The Wildcats continued to grow in 2017 and gave Oregon problems at times in the Eugene Super Regional. | 21 |
| 17 |  | Ole Miss | Ole Miss had a heck of a postseason with an SEC Tournament title and a trip to the Super Regional round. | 19 |
| 18 |  | James Madison | James Madison is arguably the top mid-major softball program in the land after another trip to Regionals. | 17 |
| 19 |  | BYU | 46 wins for BYU and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2017 is a testament to overall consistency of the program. | 18 |
| 20 |  | Louisiana | Louisiana is right there with James Madison in the race for best mid-major softball team after winning 47 games. | 14 |
| 21 |  | Illinois | Illinois made it to the Lexington Regional final before falling to Kentucky. | NR |
| 22 |  | Michigan | The Wolverines just could not find a way to slow down Washington in the Seattle Regional. | 15 |
| 23 |  | Oklahoma State | OSU was feisty against Florida as they took the Gators to winner take all game in the Gainesville Regional. | NR |
| 24 |  | Tulsa | Tulsa hung in very well against Oklahoma in the Norman Regional but fell short against the Sooners. | NR |
| 25 |  | Arizona State | The Sun Devils once again made it to the NCAA Tournament as they went 1-2 in the Oxford Regional. | 23 |
