However, there is a different team at No. 1 in Softball America, new top 25 for the fifth consecutive week. The Oklahoma Sooners reclaimed the top spot on Monday, passing the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the No. 1 spot.
Advertisement
Coach Patty Gasso’s team also made another big jump from last week: Oklahoma (46-6, 18-3) leapfrogged the Alabama Crimson Tide (44-5, 16-4) in the SEC standings with just one full weekend series remaining in conference play. The Sooners swept a top-25 series against the Georgia Bulldogs over the weekend in Norman.
Meanwhile, Alabama remained at No. 3 in the standings after suffering a 2-0 loss to the No. 8 Tennessee Lady Vols in Knoxville on Sunday, just one day after the Tide opened the series with a 12-0 shutout victory over Rocky Top.
Alabama-Tennessee will meet in the series finale on Monday. Afterwards, coach Patrick Murphy’s team will close the regular season against South Carolina (29-22, 7-14) at Rhoads Stadium starting Thursday. Oklahoma concludes the regular season with a trip to Texas A&M (35-14, 15-6).
The SEC Tournament begins Tuesday, May 5 in Lexington, Kentucky.
Softball America Top 25 Rankings: Race for OKC wide open entering final week of regular season
Elsewhere near the top of the rankings, No. 4 Texas Tech and UCLA rounded out the top five of Softball America’s rankings after big weekends for both teams.
Advertisement
The Red Raiders (47-4, 19-2) finished a perfect 5-0 week by completing a three-game sweep of No. 24 Arizona State (35-16, 8-13) in Tempe. With Sunday’s 7-1 victory over the Sun Devils, Texas Tech clinched its second consecutive Big 12 regular-season championship.
In the West, UCLA ran its winning streak to 15 in a row with a sweep of former Pac-12 rival Washington over the weekend. The Bruins (44-5, 19-2) enter the final week of the regular season just one game behind Nebraska (40-8, 20-1) in the Big Ten standings. UCLA hosts Oregon (38-10, 18-3) in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers have won 15 straight after sweeping the Iowa Hawkeyes over the weekend in Lincoln. Nebraska closes out the regular season at Penn State starting Friday.
Here’s a look at the complete Softball America Top 25 rankings on April 27.
|
Range |
Equipment |
Record |
Last week |
|
1 |
Oklahoma |
46-6 |
2 |
|
2 |
Nebraska |
40-6 |
1 |
|
3 |
Alabama |
44-5 |
3 |
|
4 |
Texas Tech |
47-4 |
4 |
|
5 |
UCLA |
44-5 |
5 |
|
6 |
Texas |
38-8 |
8 |
|
7 |
Arkansas |
39-9 |
6 |
|
8 |
State of Florida |
43-7 |
12 |
|
9 |
Florida |
45-7 |
7 |
|
10 |
Duke |
38-13 |
10 |
|
11 |
Tennessee |
39-8 |
11 |
|
12 |
Oklahoma State |
34-13 |
18 |
|
13 |
Oregon |
38-10 |
15 |
|
14 |
Texas A&M |
35-14 |
9 |
|
15 |
Georgia |
34-16 |
13 |
|
16 |
stanford |
34-12 |
20 |
|
17 |
Virginia Tech |
41-9 |
16 |
|
18 |
Mississippi State |
36-15 |
21 |
|
19 |
L.S.U. |
33-16 |
14 |
|
20 |
Arizona |
34-13 |
19 |
|
21 |
South Carolina |
29-22 |
NR |
|
22 |
louisville |
41-10 |
22 |
|
23 |
UCF |
36-14-1 |
17 |
|
24 |
Clemson |
32-19 |
24 |
|
25 |
Southeastern |
44-12 |
25 |
Alabama softball schedule 2026: Who will the Crimson Tide play next?
Alabama concludes its three-game series at Tennessee (39-8, 13-6) at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville in prime time on Monday. First pitch for Alabama-Tennessee is at 6 pm CT. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
Advertisement
The Crimson Tide concludes the regular season against South Carolina beginning Thursday in Tuscaloosa. First pitch for the series opener is at 6 pm CT. All three games in the series are scheduled to air on SEC Network+.
Here’s a look at Alabama’s 2026 SEC softball schedule with final scores and scheduled start times. All central times.
-
March 6-8: at Ole Miss (W, 5-3; W, 13-2; W, 2-1)
-
March 13-15: vs. Arkansas (W, 4-1; L, 14-9; W, 4-1)
-
March 20-22: at Missouri (W, 2-1; W, 5-2; W, 7-4)
-
April 2-4: vs. Texas (L, 9-1; W, 11-4; W, 7-4)
-
April 10-12: at Auburn (W, 1-0; W, 4-0; W, 9-1)
-
April 17-19: vs. Kentucky (W, 9-0, W, 5-4; W, 4-0)
-
April 25-27: at Tennessee (W, 12-0; L, 2-0; 6 p.m. Monday)
-
April 30-May 2: vs. South Carolina (6 p.m. Thursday, 6 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Sunday)
-
May 5-9: SEC Tournament (Lexington, Kentucky)
Record: 44-5 overall, 16-4 SEC.
follow us on @RollTideWire on X and like our page on Facebook for continued coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama and Oklahoma in good spots in new NCAA softball top 25 rankings