The human voters in the four top 25 polls were impressed by the Arizona Wildcats’ 2-1 record at Iowa State last week. The computers were less so.
Arizona now hovers just outside the top 10 in the polls published by the NFCA (12), USA Softball (11), D1 Softball (12), and Softball America (12). It improved two spots in every poll except D1 Softball, where it improved by one spot.
The metrics that will help determine where and whom the Wildcats will play in the postseason did not give Arizona much credit
for beating the Cyclones. UA went into the weekend ranked No. 12 in RPI. It was facing an ISU team ranked 68th before the games were played.
The Wildcats won the first two games despite some drama. They couldn’t overcome the drama they created for themselves in game 3, though. That left them at No. 13 in RPI after the games were played.
UA had climbed to No. 13 in KPI and DSR after last week’s sweep of Baylor. The series against ISU wiped away all he improvement. Arizona tumbled to No. 16 in DSR and No. 15 in KPI. While RPI holds more weight as an official criteria for selection and seeding, KPI and DSR can be considered by committee members when the time comes for those decisions.
This week can help the Wildcats. Their trip to Baton Rouge consists of three games against LSU. While the games are on the road, they are winnable. The Tigers are in the top 20 of three of four human polls and No. 21 in the other, they are considerably behind Arizona. They are also three spots behind Arizona in RPI, DSR, and KPI. Wins could really help and losses are unlikely to do much damage.
Bracketology is starting to project those seeds. D1 Softball currently has Arizona as the No. 12 seed with No. 23 seed Washington, Cal Baptist, and Missouri coming to Tucson. Winning would mean another trip to Fayetteville to face fifth-seeded Arkansas and former Wildcat Dakota Kennedy.
Arizona (and others) have been very successful in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks have been knocked out of the NCAA Tournament on their home field the past five years. Three of those came in the super regional round and two were in regionals. They have never made the Women’s College World Series.
Arizona advanced from the 2021 Fayetteville Super Regional under Mike Candrea and the 2024 Fayetteville Regional under Caitlin Lowe. The Wildcats were seeded to go there for supers last year, but Ole Miss advanced from the Tucson Regional. The Rebels and current Wildcat Addison Duke punched their tickets to their first WCWS at Bogle Park.
Around the Big 12
NFCA poll: Texas Tech (1), Arizona (12), Oklahoma State (19), Arizona State (23), UCF (25), Kansas (RV-5 pts/No. 32)
USA Softball poll: Texas Tech (1), Arizona (11), Oklahoma State (20), UCF (22), ASU (RV-9 pts/No. 29), Kansas (RV-3 pts/No. 32), Baylor (RV-1 pt/T-34)
D1 Softball poll: Texas Tech (1), Arizona (12), Oklahoma State (18), UCF (21), ASU (24), Kansas (25)
Softball America: Texas Tech (2), Arizona (12), UCF (19), Oklahoma State (19), Kansas (23)
RPI: Texas Tech (11), Arizona (13), UCF (23), Oklahoma State (24), ASU (27), Baylor (34), Kansas (47), Iowa State (62), Houston (67), Utah (69), BYU (84)
DSR: Texas Tech (9), Arizona (16), UCF (19), Oklahoma State (23), ASU (29), Kansas (32), Baylor (38), Utah (59), Iowa State (76), Houston (78), BYU (81)
KPI: Texas Tech (7), Arizona (15), UCF (22), Oklahoma State (23), ASU (27), Baylor (31), Kansas (37), Utah (54), Houston (63), Iowa State (68), BYU (106)
