Huskers Ranked 22nd in Preseason FloSoftball Poll

The Nebraska softball team earned a No. 22 ranking in the 2017 FloSoftball preseason top-25 poll, announced on Monday. The Huskers were one of three Big Ten Conference teams in the preseason ranking, behind No. 7 Michigan and 16th-ranked Minnesota, while defending national champion Oklahoma was ranked first.

The Huskers will have an immediate chance to prove worthy of their ranking with a rigorous 12-game schedule in the month of February. After opening its season on Thursday, Feb. 9 vs. BYU, Nebraska will take on No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 4 Auburn in back-to-back games the next day. The Huskers then close their season-opening tournament on Saturday, Feb. 11 vs. No. 12 Washington. The next weekend in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Nebraska will play No. 2 Florida State twice on the Seminoles' home field. The Huskers then close the opening month of the season at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, where Nebraska will face No. 11 Tennessee and No. 20 Missouri.

Overall, Nebraska will play seven of its first 12 games against teams that appeared in the FloSoftball preseason poll, including four games against top-five opponents. It will be a challenging schedule for a Husker roster that features seven freshmen, tying for the highest total in Rhonda Revelle's 25 seasons as Nebraska's head coach.

2017 FloSoftball Preseason NCAA Preseason Rankings
*denotes 2017 Husker opponent

Rank	University
1	Oklahoma*
2	Florida State*
3	Florida
4	Auburn*
5	Alabama
6	LSU
7	UCLA
8	Michigan
9	Arizona
10	Texas A&M
11	Tennessee*
12	Washington*
13	Oregon
14	Utah
15	Louisiana Rajun Cajuns
16	Minnesota*
17	James Madison
18	Notre Dame
19	Georgia
20	Missouri
21	Baylor
22	Nebraska
23	South Carolina
24	Kentucky
25	Texas