Alabama Softball Drops in Rankings After Opening Weekend

The Crimson Tide fall out of the Top 10 after losing its season opener to Lehigh.

After an opening weekend that saw Alabama lose to Lehigh in the season opener, the Crimson Tide has fallen outside of the Top 10.

In the USA Softball Collegiate Top 25, Alabama has slipped from No. 7 to No. 12 in the rankings. It was the same  result in the D1 Softball Top 15 rankings, where Alabama went from No. 6 to No. 12.

The Crimson Tide is the fifth-highest SEC team in both polls, trailing Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia.

After Alabama lost the season opener to Lehigh 7-4, Patrick Murphy's squad won back-to-back games against Georgia Southern, first an 8-2 victory Friday afternoon, then a 13-1 blowout that only lasted five innings.

Alabama will travel to Clearwater, Florida this weekend to participate in the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational, where four of the five opponents are ranked, starting with a Thursday afternoon game against the Duke Blue Devils, who are ranking No. 19 in the USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. The game will start at Noon CT and will be broadcasted on SEC Network.

USA Softball Collegiate Top 25

Rank, Team, Record

1. Oklahoma, 5-0
2. UCLA, 6-0
3. Florida, 3-0
4. Arkansas, 5-0
5. Oklahoma State, 3-1
6. Clemson, 5-0
7. Florida State. 4-1
8. Tennessee, 3-0
9. Virginia Tech, 5-0
10. Georgia, 5-0
11. Northwestern, 2-2
12. Alabama, 2-1
13. Texas, 2-1-1
14. Washington, 4-1
15. Arizona, 5-0
16. Kentucky, 2-0-1
17. Stanford, 3-2
18. LSU, 5-0
19. Duke, 3-2
20. UCF, 3-1
21. Auburn, 4-1
22. Louisiana, 4-0
23. Missouri, 3-2
24. Oregon, 3-2
25. Maryland, 4-1

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