It’s April 1, which means in just over a month the Big 12 softball tournament will be underway in Oklahoma City.
After some surprising outcomes in the first few weekends, the Power Rankings have been as unstable as ever.
1. Arizona Wildcats (Last Week: 2)
Record: 31-6 (8-4 Big 12)
From top to bottom, Arizona is probably the best overall team in the conference. The Wildcats don’t have an arm to match that of NiJaree Canady’s, but they make up for it at the plate. The Wildcats’ offense is by far and away the best that the Big 12 has to offer, ranking ninth nationally in scoring (7.97), ninth in on-base percentage (.455), fourth in batting (.368), and 14th in slugging (.599).
2. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Last Week: 1)
Record: 27-9 (8-1 Big 12)
Texas Tech appears to be settling into life with NiJaree Canady in the circle, as she leads the nation with a 0.63 ERA and ranks third nationally with 163 strikeouts through 99.2 IP on the year. Additionally, the Red Raiders rank second in the Big 12 in batting average (.319) and on-base percentage (.398), giving them a strong balance to this point in the year.
3. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (Last Week: 4)
Record: 21-9 (4-3 Big 12)
Oklahoma State hasn’t quite been the dominant force we’d expected them to be coming into the season, and they’re back-to-back losses against Georgia and Georgia Tech are a perfect example of why. The Cowgirls haven’t been as explosive offensively this season, ranking 56th nationally in slugging (.496) and 79th in home runs (29). That, plus the lack of an elite arm behind Ruby Meylan has made it difficult for OSU to live up to its incredibly high standard.
4. Iowa State Cyclones (Last Week: 9)
Record: 16-15 (6-3 Big 12)
Don’t look now, but we might have a midseason resurgence on our hands, as Iowa State has crawled out of the bottom three and into the top five of our Power Rankings this week. The Cyclones have gone 5-1 in their last six games, sweeping UCF on the road and taking two of three against Arizona State. A series against BYU looms large, but the ‘Clones are suddenly sitting alone at third in the conference standings.
5. Arizona State Sun Devils (Last Week: 3)
Record: 24-12 (6-6 Big 12)
After beating UCF and playing Arizona competitively in their series a week ago, it felt like ASU might be team that sneaks up and surprises some folks through the backhalf of the schedule. They still could, but I’m not nearly as confident about it after they dropped a series at Iowa State this week. Sure, the 18-4 win on Saturday showed what they’re capable of, but it’s going to take more consistency from the Sun Devils to climb back up this list.
6. BYU Cougars (Last Week: 7)
Record: 21-8 (5-4 Big 12)
The Cougars avoided a sweep against Arizona with a 9-4 win on Sunday, but the Wildcats outscored them 23-6 in the first two games and left little doubt about who was the better team. BYU too care of business against Houston and played ASU tight in their first Big 12 series of the season, but it’s still hard to pencil in this team as a contender.
7. UCF Knights (Last Week: 5)
Record: 22-16-1 (4-8 Big 12)
If the Knights could’ve pulled out a series victory in Waco, I would’ve loved to move them up on this list. Their 4-0 win over Florida was incredible, and the 7-2 win on Sunday was a good bounce-back against Baylor, but this team appears to be prone to a hangover. The Knights are 3-9 since winning their first two games against Arizona, and while some of those wins are impressive, they’ve got to find a way to do it week in and week out.
8. Utah Utes (Last Week: 11)
Record: 12-24 (4-5 Big 12)
Utah is settling in and now has series wins over Kansas and Houston to show for it. They’re not a contender in the conference race, but they’re improving and moving up the list.
9. Baylor Bears (Last Week: 10)
Record: 15-21 (4-8 Big 12)
Maybe Baylor is figuring some things out? They took down UCF in their series this weekend and have a little bit of momentum for the first time this year. Let’s see if they do anything with it.
10. Kansas Jayhawks (Last Week: 8)
Record: 15-15 (3-6 Big 12)
Getting swept isn’t ever a good thing, but at least it was on the road against a good Texas Tech team. The Jayhawks are at Arizona State this weekend with a chance to rebound.
11. Houston Cougars (Last Week: 6)
Record: 19-13 (3-7 Big 12)
Houston is plummeting after dropping six of their last seven Big 12 games. They’ll get Baylor at home this week, but then it’s back-to-back series on the road at Texas Tech and UCF.
