LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – Two-time defending national champion UT Tyler softball will head into the 2026 season as the #1 ranked team in the preseason edition of the NFCA/GoRout DII Top 25 Coaches Poll as announced Tuesday.
 
The Patriots garnered all 16 first place votes in the poll for a perfect 400 points to begin the season. They are followed by national runner-up Tampa, and World Series participants Western Washington, Pace, and Saginaw Valley State to round out the top five.
 
The 2026 NFCA/GoRout Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by the NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll Committee. The committee consists of 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the NCAA's eight regions. The first poll of the regular season will be announced on Tuesday, Feb. 10 and every Tuesday at noon ET throughout the 2026 season.
 
The Patriots are coming off another spectacular season in which they finished 62-5 overall, earning their second straight NCAA DII National Championship and becoming the first repeat winner since California (Pa.) accomplished the feat in 1997-98.
 
Over the last two seasons, UT Tyler has gone an unbelievable 20-1 in the NCAA Tournament, including a perfect 10-0 in the NCAA World Series. They have now won four consecutive NCAA South Central Region titles, and have won at least a share of the LSC Regular Season championship in five straight seasons.
 
The Lone Star Conference had four teams represented in the first edition of the rankings, the most of any conference. The Patriots were joined by #8 West Texas A&M, #13 Angelo State, and #25 Oklahoma Christian.
 
UT Tyler will lean on a bevy of newcomers along with key returners in Taryn Barney, Sam Garcia, Berlyn Grossman, and Keona Wells, each of which participated in the Patriots World Series run.
 
The Patriots open their season at the DII First Pitch Invitational where they will see Saint Martin's to open their year. That tournament runs January 30^th-February 1^st in Conroe, Texas.

2026 NFCA/GoRout Division II Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll

1/20/26 (Preseason)

RANK	TEAM (First-Place Votes)	POINTS	RECORD
1	UT Tyler (16)	400	0-0
2	Tampa	383	0-0
3	Western Washington	369	0-0
4	Pace	350	0-0
5	Saginaw Valley State	338	0-0
6	North Georgia	318	0-0
7	Shippensburg	302	0-0
8	West Texas A&M	272	0-0
9	Augustana	265	0-0
10	Francis Marion	264	0-0
11	Central Oklahoma	243	0-0
12	AUM	239	0-0
13	Angelo State	205	0-0
14	Cal State San Marcos	184	0-0
15	East Stroudsburg	181	0-0
16	Kutztown	154	0-0
17	Cal State East Bay	133	0-0
18	Rogers State	124	0-0
19	Lenoir-Rhyne	103	0-0
20	Saint Leo	99	0-0
21	Wilmington	82	0-0
22	Indianapolis	64	0-0
23	Barry	55	0-0
24	Missouri Southern	41	0-0
25	Oklahoma Christian	22	0-0