The top-10 and college softball was complete and utter chaos last week. Every team except for Texas and Washington in my top 10 lost a game last week. And four of the teams lost a series. So, there were a lot of decisions to make and it was close to impossible to make it all make sense.
But here we go:
1. Texas (Previous: 4)
Texas is the No. 1 team in the country in my week 10 Power 10. The Longhorns are on an absolute roll after winning the series over Oklahoma, they beat Texas State midweek and swept Baylor. Mia Scott almost hit for the cycle in the series opener where they run-ruled the Bears.
2. Oklahoma (2)
Oklahoma will be at 2 after dropping another game but still winning the series over BYU. Unusual for Oklahoma, as we are used to seeing never seeing them lose. But really on par with the rest of the top 10 as parity increases this season.
3. Duke (1)
Duke comes in at No. 3 after dropping a mid-week game to Campbell but then following it up with a sweep over Clemson. Both Duke and OU have four losses, the least of anyone, and Duke now picked up some more ranked wins.
4. Tennessee (5)
Tennessee lost a game but won the series over Mississippi State, this team has not dropped a series all year long. Zaida Puni had a two-homerun game in the series finale to lead them to the victory.
5. Stanford (6)
Stanford moves up to five with so many teams dropping. They too dropped a game, but won the series over Oregon State. The first two wins were via run rule, and they lost by a run in the last game. Nija Canady is still unstoppable, she threw a shutout on Friday.
6. Oklahoma State (3)
Oklahoma State is the highest-ranked team in my Power 10 that lost a series last week. The Cowgirls lost two out of three to Iowa State. After dropping the first game of the series Iowa State walked off the second with a three-run bomb. But OSU responded with a run-rule win on Sunday. They are still at 6 with the series win over Texas not that long ago.
Okay now here is where I struggled the most, No. 7-10. You could argue not only different orderings for these teams, but different teams for these spots. Nothing seems like the right answer at this point. Texas A&M lost to LSU, LSU lost to Florida, Florida lost to Missouri… Missouri recently beat Florida and LSU, but lost to Arkansas. It's literally a mess.
7. Arkansas (NR)
I think Arkansas' resume as of late with three-straight series wins over Georgia, Missouri and now a sweep over South Carolina earns them the seventh spot. They have been grinding out big wins at a crucial part of the season.
8. Missouri (NR)
I have Missouri behind them since they won the series over LSU a few weeks ago, lost twice to Arkansas above them, and now just won the series over Florida.
9. Washington (10)
Washington I had at 10 last week after losing the series to Oregon, but they only played and won two games last week, so it's harder to place them, but I don't think they deserve to drop out with just seven losses on the season. Arkansas and Missouri move up despite having more losses.
10. Texas A&M (NR)
And finally at 10, I was torn between Florida and Texas A&M for the last spot, but ended up giving it to the Aggies, since the Gators not only lost their series to Missouri but also lost a mid-week. Texas A&M was tough to place since they were swept by LSU a few weeks ago, but they won the series over Kentucky, and split with Bama with the rubber match on Monday night.
Florida is my first team out, and LSU and Georgia also dropped out, with LSU losing its second-straight series and Georgia losing its third-straight.
