Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Ranked No. 15 to Start 2010 Season
1/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Jan. 26, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern will open the 2010 campaign on February 12 as the No. 15 team in the nation according to the USA Today/NFCA coaches poll preseason rankings released today. The Wildcats also are ranked in the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason poll, checking in at No. 17.
Northwestern has been ranked in 74-consecutive NFCA polls dating back to the fourth week of 2005, spending 22-straight polls in the top-10 until dropping to No. 12 on March 11, 2008. Northwestern was in and out of the top-10 in 2009, spending five total weeks there before concluding the year with the No. 18 ranking.
In the USA Softball poll, Northwestern has been part of the top-25 for the last 76 weeks dating back to the March 1, 2005 edition.
Every one of the Wildcats' five opponents at the season-opening Kajikawa Classic (Feb. 12-14 in Tempe, Ariz.) are ranked or receiving votes in the preseason NFCA poll. Arizona is No. 6 while Nevada (31), Cal State Fullerton (17), Cal State Northridge (6) and Creighton (4) earned some pollster love.
Overall this year, Northwestern will play 26 games against teams ranked or receiving votes in the NFCA poll, including 16 against the top-25, 14 versus the top-14 and nine with the top-10 of the preseason rankings.
For the complete polls, link to NFCA.org and USASoftball.com.
