The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Softball picked third in Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
01.22.2014 | Softball
UT has been picked to finish in the league's top three for a fourth straight year.
IRVING, Texas - The University of Texas Softball program was picked to finish third behind Oklahoma and Baylor in the Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches, the conference office announced Wednesday afternoon. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.
Oklahoma took the top spot in the poll for the second straight season and for the fifth time in six years by receiving all six first-place votes for 36 points. Baylor was second with 31 points. The Longhorns were a close third, receiving 26 points, while Kansas landed in fourth with 18. Oklahoma State (16), Texas Tech (13) and Iowa State (seven) rounded out this year's preseason poll.
UT has been picked to finish in the league's top three for four-straight years.
Texas is a four-time regular-season Big 12 champion (2002, 2003, 2006 and 2010) which ranks second-most among the seven conference schools. In each of the four years that the Horns won the regular-season title, UT was not the coaches' preseason favorite to win the league crown. In 2002, the Longhorns were picked third behind Nebraska and Oklahoma, in 2003, UT was second behind the Cornhuskers, in 2006 Texas was picked second behind Texas A&M and in 2010 the Horns were picked fifth.
The Longhorns, who were tabbed No. 10 in the 2014 USA Today/NFCA Preseason Poll, open the season on the road at No. 17 LSU on Feb. 6 before venturing to Lafayette, La. for five games at the Louisiana Classic.
UT returns six starting position players and 12 letterwinners from last year's team, which posted a 51-10 overall record and finished the season ranked No. 3 in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball final polls. The Longhorns also welcome a total of seven freshmen to their squad.
For season ticket information, please call 512-232-3865 or click here. Three-game, five-game and 10-game Mini Plans for seats in the general admission sections are now on sale.
