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 |