For the third-consecutive season, the University of Florida softball team will kick off its campaign with a top-five preseason ranking, as the Gators were tabbed No. 5 in the Preseason USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I Top 25 Poll, as well as the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25, both announced Tuesday. UF has been ranked or receiving votes in every USA Today/NFCA poll since the 2005 season, hitting No. 1 a total of 13 times, including 11 of 16 polls during the 2009 season. Likewise, the Gators have appeared or received votes in every ESPN.com/USA Softball poll since the list commenced in 2003, securing the No. 1 spot 12 times in the last three seasons.
The Gators, who finished last season at No. 6 in both collegiate polls with a 49-10 record (20-4 SEC), are coming off their third-consecutive WCWS appearance in 2010 after also garnering a top-five seed in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year. Florida returns 11 letterwinners, led by senior All-American pitcher Stephanie Brombacher (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), and welcomes a class of six newcomers, including Gatorade National Player of the Year Kasey Fagan (Dunnellon, Fla.).
Defending national champion UCLA claimed the top preseason spot in the USA Today/NFCA poll with 27 of the 30 first-place votes, while 2010 WCWS runner-up Arizona topped the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll in the No. 1 spot, securing nine first-place votes. The Gators will collide with eight opponents that appear on both preseason top 25 polls, including tilts with the No. 1/2 Bruins (2/25), No. 3/4 Georgia (3/25-27), No. 4/7 Tennessee (5/6-8), No. 6/3 Alabama (4/22-24), No. 15/15 Texas (2/24), No. 19/16 LSU (3/9), No. 23 (ESPN.com/USA Softball) Florida State (5/4) and No. 25 (USA Today/NFCA) North Carolina (2/19).
The Pac-10 paced both preseason polls with seven member institutions in the top 25, followed by the SEC and Big 12 with five each. The Big Ten had three top-25 selections, while the ACC tallied two, Georgia Tech in both polls, as well as North Carolina in the USA Today/NFCA poll and Florida State in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. The WAC, Sun Belt and Mountain West conferences each had one representative.
Florida kicks off the 2011 campaign on the road with the USF Wilson DeMarini Tournament in Tampa, Fla., a five-game stint from Feb. 11-13, and will face Florida Gulf Coast (2/11), Marshall (2/11), NC State (2/12), Long Island (2/12) and USF (2/13) during the three-day span.
2011 PRESEASON USA TODAY/NFCA DIVISION I TOP 25 POLL
| Rank/Team | 2010 Record | Totals | Final ’10 Poll |
| 1. UCLA (27) | 50-11 | 738 | 1 |
| 2. Arizona (3) | 52-14 | 715 | 2 |
| 3. Georgia | 50-13 | 669 | 3 |
| 4. Tennessee | 49-15 | 645 | 4 |
| 5. FLORIDA | 49-10 | 607 | 6 |
| 6. Alabama | 52-11 | 588 | 9 |
| 7. Missouri | 51-13 | 564 | 8 |
| 8. Hawaii | 50-15 | 500 | 7 |
| 9. Oklahoma | 47-12 | 488 | 11 |
| 10. Washington | 50-9 | 475 | 5 |
| 11. Michigan | 49-8 | 445 | 10 |
| 12. California | 44-19 | 413 | 13 |
| 13. Arizona State | 44-17 | 403 | 12 |
| 14. Oregon | 36-21 | 387 | 14 |
| 15. Texas | 43-15 | 286 | 18 |
| 16. BYU | 46-13 | 269 | 15 |
| 17. Louisiana Lafayette | 45-18 | 248 | 16 |
| 18. Georgia Tech | 51-11 | 231 | 17 |
| 19. LSU | 45-163 | 219 | 19 |
| 20. Stanford | 37-19 | 209 | 21 |
| 21. Texas A&M | 44-16 | 170 | 20 |
| 22. Ohio State | 39-14 | 100 | 22 |
| 23. Oklahoma State | 44-16 | 83 | 23 |
| 24. Illinois | 45-18 | 69 | 25 |
| 25. North Carolina | 42-20 | 51 | 24 |
