By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA - USF finished off an amazing softball season with a stellar national ranking.
The Bulls came in at No. 8 in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll that was released Tuesday by the Amateur Softball Association.
USF (50-14, 17-5 in Big East) appeared in its first-ever Women's College World Series after taking two straight games from Hofstra in the Tampa Super Regional series that took place at USF softball stadium.
USF ace Sara Nevins (31-8) was named a second-team All-American after posting a 1.12 ERA. The sophomore left-hander was in the running for the national player of the year award until the final rounds.
NEVINS, RICHARDSON MAKE USA ELITE TEAM
Nevins and senior center fielder Janine Richardson were named to the USA Elite Team on Wednesday. The squad will take part in a series of exhibition games in the next six days, including a test against the USA Women's National Team on Thursday in Summersville, W. Va.
Here is a look at the final ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll for the 2012 season:
|
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
Points
|
Previous Ranking
|
|
1.
|
Alabama (20)
|
60-8
|
500
|
3
|
|
2.
|
Oklahoma
|
54-10
|
480
|
4
|
|
3.
|
California
|
58-7
|
459
|
1
|
|
4.
|
Arizona State
|
53-11
|
441
|
2
|
|
5.
|
Oregon
|
45-18
|
414
|
12
|
|
6.
|
LSU
|
40-25
|
395
|
RV
|
|
7.
|
Tennessee
|
52-14
|
389
|
5
|
|
8.
|
South Florida
|
50-14
|
354
|
22
|
|
9.
|
Louisiana-Lafayette
|
53-6
|
303
|
10
|
|
10.
|
Georgia
|
45-17
|
302
|
11
|
|
11.
|
Missouri
|
47-14
|
297
|
9
|
|
12.
|
Texas
|
47-13
|
294
|
8
|
|
13.
|
Arizona
|
38-19
|
233
|
15
|
|
14.
|
Washington
|
39-19
|
223
|
18
|
|
15.
|
Michigan
|
42-17
|
216
|
19
|
|
16.
|
Florida
|
48-13
|
196
|
6
|
|
17.
|
Hofstra
|
42-15
|
187
|
NR
|
|
18.
|
Louisville
|
55-5
|
171
|
7
|
|
19.
|
Texas A&M
|
41-18
|
141
|
13
|
|
20.
|
Stanford
|
40-19
|
89
|
17
|
|
21.
|
UCLA
|
36-20
|
68
|
14
|
|
22.
|
Florida State
|
47-16
|
52
|
20
|
|
23.
|
Hawaii
|
44-9
|
47
|
16
|
|
24.
|
Syracuse
|
43-16
|
46
|
RV
|
|
25.
|
North Carolina
|
43-15
|
39
|
21
|
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
Dropped Out: Texas Tech (23); Oregon State (24); Tulsa (25)
New to Poll: - LSU (RV); Hofstra (-); Syracuse (RV)
Others receiving votes: Texas Tech (35); Oregon State (34); Baylor (16); Georgia Tech (13); Notre Dame (11); San Diego State (10); Virginia Tech (9); Arkansas (7); Northwestern (6); Tulsa (6); Kentucky (5); BYU (4); Texas State (4); South Alabama (4); UMASS (1).
