New team at No. 1 in NCAA softball top 25 rankings after wild week
For the fourth straight week, there's a different team at No. 1 in Softball America's top 25 rankings after a bizarre week in the SEC.and elsewhere.
Week 11 of the 2026 NCAA softball season was a wild one. Each of the top three teams in the NFCA/GoRout Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll lost nonconference games in midweek action. The second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide suffered a bizarre 3-2 loss to the Samford Bulldogs on Tuesday in Birmingham.
One night later, the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners fell to Oklahoma State, and No. 3 Texas Tech suffered a 3-0 shutout loss at Texas State. Both Alabama and Oklahoma rallied for series wins in SEC play over the weekend.
The Crimson Tide swept last-place Kentucky on Sunday, and the Sooners took two of three from No. 8 Arkansas. Alabama (42-4 overall, 15-3 conference) tied Oklahoma (42-6, 15-3) atop the SEC standings with two weekend series remaining for each team before the conference tournament begins on May 5 in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Tide and Sooners won't meet in the regular season, but Alabama visits Tennessee beginning Saturday while Oklahoma hosts Georgia starting Friday in separate top-25 series. Alabama softball vs Kentucky: Game 3 score, recap and highlights today šø Gary Cosby Jr. , Gary Cosby Jr.