Florida Softball: Gators Picked by Coaches to Win Conference
The two-time defending National Champion Gators of Florida softball have been pegged by the coaches to win the conference.
While Southbound and Down primarily focuses on football and basketball, we keep our eyes on all things SEC. Just like we all swell with pride during bowl season, we love seeing the conference do well in other sports as well. One program that has been shining particularly bright lately is Florida softball.
The sport has historically been dominated by teams in Texas and to the west, usually leaving out the SEC. The SEC now claims 3 national championships in softball, however, due to Florida’s two and Alabama winning the championship in 2012. Look out west coast, we’re coming.
13 SEC head coaches voted in the annual preseason poll and chose Florida softball to win the Southeastern Conference softball title. The Gators received 10 first-place votes. The only other program to receive any first place votes was LSU, which of course received the remaining 3 votes.
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According to secsports.com, last year the Florida softball team became one of just three program to claim NCAA titles in back-to-back years and they did it in dominating fashion. Their overall record on the year was 60-7.
Points for the poll were given on a 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 basis and coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. The breakdown follows below.
2016 SEC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll (First-Place votes in parenthesis)
- Florida (10), Total Points: 142
- LSU (3), Total Points: 128
- Auburn, Total Points: 121
- Alabama, Total Points: 113
- Tennessee, Total Points: 102
- Georgia, Total Points: 85
- Missouri, Total Points: 82
- Kentucky, Total Points: 59
- Texas A&M, Total Points: 58
- Mississippi State, Total Points: 45
- South Carolina, Total Points: 40
- Ole Miss, Total Points: 27
- Arkansas, Total Points: 12
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For those of you keeping track and wondering where the 14th head coach was, as well as the 14th team: Vanderbilt does not sponsor a softball team that competes in the NCAA.