By OU Media Relations
Oklahoma was chosen because the unanimous No. 1 within the 2023 USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll, the NFCA introduced the ballot Tuesday.
Oklahoma’s No. 1 spot within the NFCA ballot marks the fourth time the Sooners enter a season within the prime spot (2017, ’18, ’22, ’23) and the third time OU has been the unanimous alternative within the coaches ballot, becoming a member of the 2017 and 2022 squads. The Sooners have been the top-ranked workforce for 30 consecutive polls courting again to March 2, 2021.
OU obtained 800 complete factors and all 32 first-place votes to steer No. 2 UCLA (747) and No. 3 Oklahoma State (723). Florida and Florida State rounded out the highest 5.
The full NFCA ballot could be seen here.
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Additionally, it’s the twelfth straight yr the Sooners have began within the NFCA’s prime 10, good for the nation’s longest lively streak. OU has been ranked within the prime 5 10 of the previous 11 years, probably the most over that stretch.
Overall, the Sooners are tied with Arizona for second with 23 top-10 appearances within the NFCA preseason ballot, trailing solely UCLA’s 24.
Oklahoma, UCLA and Washington are the one applications to be ranked in each NFCA preseason ballot, which dates again to 1995. OU additionally prolonged its streak of being the one program ranked each week within the 28-year existence of the NFCA’s ballot, 407 straight polls.
The Sooners, additionally the preseason unanimous No. 1 within the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25, had been just lately chosen because the Big 12 preseason favourite, marking the eleventh straight yr and 14th within the final 15 seasons that OU has topped the convention’s preseason ballot.
The 2022-23 workforce returns 5 All-Americans in Jordy Bahl, Jayda Coleman, Kinzie Hansen, Tiare Jennings and Grace Lyons. The Sooners are coming off a dominant 2022 marketing campaign that noticed the workforce end 59-3 and declare their tenth straight Big 12 common season title and second straight nationwide championship.
OU opens the 2023 season Feb. 9 in Irvine, CA, on the second annual Mark Campbell Invitational. OU will meet 4 postseason groups from a season in the past on the opening-weekend event, beginning with the opener vs. No. 16 Duke on Feb. 9. The house slate begins at Marita Hynes Field on March 3 vs. UIC and Kentucky. The 2023 schedule options 14 house video games, together with three Big 12 sequence in Norman.
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