Jan. 30, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The defending NAIA Champion, Oklahoma City University is once again the favorite in the 2008 NAIA Preseason Softball Top 25 poll. The Stars earned 12 of the possible 13 first place votes and 324 total points.
Oklahoma City posted an overall record of 53-6 last season and has won eight NAIA National Championships. The Stars will open the 2008 season on Feb. 19th on the road against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and will be led by the 2007 NAIA Player of the Year, Melody Murphy.
California Baptist received one first place vote and compiled 313 total points for the second spot in the poll. The 2007 National Championship runner-up, Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) earned 299 total points at No. 3 while No. 4 Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) and No. 5 Simon Fraser (B.C.) received 276 and 270 total points respectively.
The first regular season poll will be released on Wednesday, March 19.
2008 NAIA Softball Preseason Top 25 Poll - Jan. 30
|
RANK |
2007
FINAL |
SCHOOL |
1ST PLACE VOTES |
2007
RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
2 |
Oklahoma City (VI) |
12 |
53-6 |
324 |
|
2 |
1 |
California Baptist (II) |
1 |
59-5 |
313 |
|
3 |
3 |
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) (II) |
|
45-12 |
299 |
|
4 |
5 |
Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) (XI) |
|
59-11 |
276 |
|
5 |
4 |
Simon Fraser (B.C.) (I) |
|
25-5 |
270 |
|
6 |
10 |
Saint Gregory's (Okla.) (VI) |
|
38-14 |
260 |
|
7 |
9 |
Shorter (Ga.) (XIII) |
|
44-12 |
224 |
|
8 |
15 |
Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.) (XIV) |
|
41-8 |
223 |
|
9 |
16 |
Dickinson State (N.D.) (III) |
|
32-8 |
217 |
|
10 |
8 |
Vanguard (Calif.) (II) |
|
45-19 |
216 |
|
11 |
7 |
Lee (Tenn.) (XIII) |
|
43-16 |
199 |
|
12 |
11 |
Bellevue (Neb.) (IV) |
|
34-8 |
165 |
|
13 |
12 |
Mobile (Ala.) (XIII) |
|
36-17 |
149 |
|
14 |
14 |
The College of Idaho (Idaho) (I) |
|
37-12 |
146 |
|
15 |
19 |
William Penn (Iowa) (VII) |
|
46-14 |
139 |
|
16 |
21 |
Bethel (Ind.) (VIII) |
|
45-10 |
118 |
|
17 |
22 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) (XI) |
|
41-14 |
105 |
|
18 |
25 |
Rogers State (Okla.) (VI) |
|
31-5 |
99 |
|
19 |
17 |
Biola (Calif.) (II) |
|
32-17 |
94 |
|
20 |
24 |
McKendree (Ill.) (V) |
|
41-14 |
86 |
|
21 |
13 |
Thomas (Ga.) (XIV) |
|
25-20 |
74 |
|
22 |
RV |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (VII) |
|
40-19 |
57 |
|
23 |
18 |
Evangel (Mo.) (V) |
|
27-13-1 |
54 |
|
24 |
NR |
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) (XI) |
|
38-15 |
48 |
|
25 |
NR |
Concordia (Calif.) (II) |
|
31-20 |
19 |
Others receiving votes: Waldorf (Iowa) (VII) 13; Spring Hill (Ala.) (XIII) 9; Morningside (Iowa) III) 6; Urbana (Ohio) (IX) 5; Oregon Tech (I) 3; Northwestern Oklahoma (VI) 2; Ohio Dominican (IX) 1; Northwood (Texas) (VI) 1l Virginia-Wise (XII) 1; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (XI) 1; Columbia (Mo.) (V) 1.
