U-M Gloves Highest Regular-Season Ranking at No. 6
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A 26-game unbeaten streak and a strong showing in its Big Ten Conference-opening weekend pushed the University of Michigan softball program to a No. 6 ranking in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 Poll released today (Wednesday, April 7). It is the Wolverines' highest ranking in the 1999 regular-season poll after opening the year at No. 5 in the preseason ranking.
Michigan (30-5-1, 3-0 Big Ten) finished the month of March with a 23-game unbeaten streak, then opened defense of its Big Ten title with a three-game sweep of Ohio State University April 3-4. The Wolverines play a doubleheader at Purdue today (April 7) and open the home portion of the 1999 schedule with a three-game weekend set vs. No. 22 Minnesota (April 17-18, 1 p.m.).
U-M is joined in the top 25 by Big Ten rivals Minnesota (No. 22) and Iowa (No. 25). Michigan State and Penn State are among teams receiving votes in this week's poll.
USA Today/NFCA Division I Coaches Poll (4/7/99)
Team Record Pts LW
1. UCLA (25) 36-1 625 1
2. Arizona 32-4 599 2
3. Fresno State 40-7 566 3
4. Washington 25-7 533 4
5. Southwestern Louisiana 31-5 520 5
6. MICHIGAN 30-5-1 478 7
7. Arizona State 30-10 464 6
8. Stanford 28-9 427 9
9. South Carolina 34-9 408 10
10. Louisiana State 28-6 384 11
11. Oklahoma 28-9 373 8
12. Oregon 29-10 334 13
13. Oregon State 27-12 307 12
14. California 28-9 292 14
15. Texas 26-12 280 15
16. Illinois-Chicago 44-13 242 16
17. Southern Mississippi 34-5 220 17
18. South Florida 35-13 203 19
19. Texas A&M 31-9 185 18
20. New Mexico 32-8 154 21
21. Massachusetts 20-8 133 22
22. Minnesota 26-10 79 23
23. DePaul 23-10 74 24
24. Missouri 27-12 46 25
25. Iowa 22-12-1 43 20
Records through April 4
Contacts: Amy Carlton, Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Last updated: Wednesday, 07-Apr-1999 21:00:10 EDT