Elite 50: Ranking the Nation’s Top College Softball Programs
In STACK’s college softball rankings, we take you beyond wins and losses to reveal what truly makes a college softball program great. To come up with our list of the top 10 softball colleges, we consider a variety of factors—not just a team’s record, but also academic rankings from U.S. News & World Report and Academic Progress Rates. The result is a list of schools we’d recommend to any softball player seeking an elite athletic program and a strong education. Learn more about how we arrived at our rankings through the Elite 50 guide, and browse through STACK’s rankings for 20 other sports at the bottom of this page.
STACK’s Top 10 Softball Colleges
| College | Score | ’12 U.S. News Rank | APR [Out of 1,000] | National Ranking ’11/’10/’09 | Games Above .500 [Past 3 Seasons] | STACK Factor |
| 1. Florida | 100 | 58 | 993 | 2/6/2 | 140 | 144 |
| 2. Michigan | 82.63 | 28 | 984 | 17/10/6 | 123 | 96 |
| 3. Alabama | 82.22 | 75 | 994 | 3/9/3 | 126 | 60 |
| 4. Stanford | 80.32 | 5 | 988 | 10/21/10 | 80 | 192 |
| 5. Georgia | 77.33 | 62 | 974 | 9/3/4 | 109 | 84 |
| 6. UCLA | 77.29 | 25 | 993 | 19/1/9 | 90 | 120 |
| 7. Missouri | 76.74 | 90 | 997 | 6/8/8 | 119 | 72 |
| 8. Washington | 76.40 | 42 | 970 | 12/5/1 | 101 | 96 |
| 9. Arizona State | 73.46 | 132 | 997 | 1/12/5 | 109 | 108 |
| 10. Cal | 64.00 | 21 | 919 | 5/13/11 | 75 | 120 |
Inside the Rankings: Florida Softball
The Gators grabbed the top spot in our softball rankings for the third year in a row. Since 1998, the team has made 12 NCAA tournament appearances, won two SEC conference championships and earned four trips to the College World Series.
Softball recruits are drawn to Gainesville not only because of the program’s perennial success, but also for the opportunity to train and play in one of the most impressive facilities in college softball. Built in 1996 at a cost of $2.6 million, the Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium now boasts a 2,300-square-foot locker room, team rooms and equipment rooms adjacent to a training facility and clubhouse building. An enclosed batting cage puts icing on the cake.
The Gators are on the brink of winning their first College World Series, and Florida is an obvious choice for any softball player seeking a top-flight collegiate experience.
Check out the rest of STACK’s college rankings:
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Elite 50: Ranking the Nation’s Top College Softball Programs
In STACK’s college softball rankings, we take you beyond wins and losses to reveal what truly makes a college softball program great. To come up with our list of the top 10 softball colleges, we consider a variety of factors—not just a team’s record, but also academic rankings from U.S. News & World Report and Academic Progress Rates. The result is a list of schools we’d recommend to any softball player seeking an elite athletic program and a strong education. Learn more about how we arrived at our rankings through the Elite 50 guide, and browse through STACK’s rankings for 20 other sports at the bottom of this page.
STACK’s Top 10 Softball Colleges
| College | Score | ’12 U.S. News Rank | APR [Out of 1,000] | National Ranking ’11/’10/’09 | Games Above .500 [Past 3 Seasons] | STACK Factor |
| 1. Florida | 100 | 58 | 993 | 2/6/2 | 140 | 144 |
| 2. Michigan | 82.63 | 28 | 984 | 17/10/6 | 123 | 96 |
| 3. Alabama | 82.22 | 75 | 994 | 3/9/3 | 126 | 60 |
| 4. Stanford | 80.32 | 5 | 988 | 10/21/10 | 80 | 192 |
| 5. Georgia | 77.33 | 62 | 974 | 9/3/4 | 109 | 84 |
| 6. UCLA | 77.29 | 25 | 993 | 19/1/9 | 90 | 120 |
| 7. Missouri | 76.74 | 90 | 997 | 6/8/8 | 119 | 72 |
| 8. Washington | 76.40 | 42 | 970 | 12/5/1 | 101 | 96 |
| 9. Arizona State | 73.46 | 132 | 997 | 1/12/5 | 109 | 108 |
| 10. Cal | 64.00 | 21 | 919 | 5/13/11 | 75 | 120 |
Inside the Rankings: Florida Softball
The Gators grabbed the top spot in our softball rankings for the third year in a row. Since 1998, the team has made 12 NCAA tournament appearances, won two SEC conference championships and earned four trips to the College World Series.
Softball recruits are drawn to Gainesville not only because of the program’s perennial success, but also for the opportunity to train and play in one of the most impressive facilities in college softball. Built in 1996 at a cost of $2.6 million, the Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium now boasts a 2,300-square-foot locker room, team rooms and equipment rooms adjacent to a training facility and clubhouse building. An enclosed batting cage puts icing on the cake.
The Gators are on the brink of winning their first College World Series, and Florida is an obvious choice for any softball player seeking a top-flight collegiate experience.
Check out the rest of STACK’s college rankings: