Mike Brooks
Jan 192 min
Updated: Jan 30
D1Softball Staff - January 16, 2024
Entering the 2024 season, Oklahoma has an opportunity to do something that’s never been accomplished in college softball: win their fourth consecutive national championship.
After losing just one game through the entirety of the 2023 season and riding an active 53-game winning streak, the Sooners are the unanimous No. 1 choice in the D1Softball Preseason Top 25 poll.
Joining the Sooners in the top 10 of the preseason poll are four teams that played in the Women’s College World Series last season; that group includes No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Florida State, and No. 10 Washington. Fellow WCWS participants Alabama (No. 11), Oklahoma State (No. 12), and Utah (tied for No. 14) also appear in the poll.
Star players and hearty offenses were a dominating theme throughout the top ten of the rankings. No. 5 Texas and No. 6 Georgia enter the year with high expectations for their individual offenses that are led by Mia Scott and Jayda Kearney, respectively. Reigning National Player of the Year Valerie Cagle’s presence in the pitching circle and the lineup for Clemson has the Tigers at No. 7 in the poll.
No. 8 Duke and No. 9 UCLA both return key cogs in their own offenses. Ana Gold and Aminah Vega will anchor the Blue Devils’ lineup, while Maya Brady and Megan Grant represent the old and the young in UCLA’s deep batting order.
Buoyed by the transfer addition of Jordy Bahl, Nebraska checks in at No. 13 in the rankings. Bahl returned to her home state this summer after helping lead Oklahoma to their third-straight national title. No. 21 Louisiana and No. 23 San Diego State represent for the non-Power 5 programs in the preseason rankings.
The SEC leads all conferences with nine ranked teams, while the PAC-12 checks in with five. The Big 12 (four), ACC (three), and Big Ten (two) boast multiple ranked teams, while the Sun Belt and Mountain West each placed a single team in the rankings.
Here is the 2024 D1Softball Preseason Top 25: