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Elite teams have started to separate themselves from the competition entering the halfway point of the college softball season.
The SEC team’s have been dominant this year, as almost all of them already have 29+ wins. SEC team’s have their fingerprints all over the Top-25 rankings. Four of the 10 best softball teams are in the SEC: Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and LSU. And next year’s SEC members Texas and Oklahoma are Nos. 1-2, respectively.
Week 10 @espn / @USASoftball Collegiate Top 25 🥎 #NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/adCTDUWKZ1
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) April 16, 2024
Back-to-Back MVP?
In 2023 Skylar Wallace was awarded Player of the Year honors by the SEC. Although her teammate Korbe Otis is having a Player of the Year type of season herself by leading the conference in batting average at .434. Wallace has built a strong case for repeating with a second-best .408 and by far leading the conference in runs scored with 61.
Back to the top of the lineup for the fifth 🔄#GoGators pic.twitter.com/1Bkh9gu21j
— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) April 14, 2024
Tennessee Is Big Dog In SEC
Tennessee has the best conference record, highest overall winning percentage and is the best ranked SEC softball team. Tennessee has a strength-in-numbers team, as none of its players have been playing at a Player of Year level.
Tennessee has a tough road ahead with series against Georgia and Mississippi State.
LSU is coming off a series loss to Florida and will surely bring their A-game against Tennessee this weekend. After facing a hungry LSU, Tennessee has one more ranked SEC opponent in Alabama, which could use this opportunity to send a message vs. the Vols.
Happy birthday, Z! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/QdAMfYCA99
— Tennessee Softball (@Vol_Softball) April 17, 2024
Florida Is Double-edged Sword
Despite having multiple Player of the Year type of players on their roster Florida isn’t the highest ranked SEC team. Florida does have the most wins (33), are tied for 10th most losses in the conference (9). Florida has done a good job scoring and efficiently hitting the ball, but it also allowed the second most hits (175) this season. The Gators are is 1-3 in their last four games. Was that three-game skid a rough patch or a sign of things to come?
