Defending national champion Florida is ranked No. 1 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association preseason poll. The Gators received 20 first-place votes, more than double the number for No. 2 Oregon (8). All eight schools that played in last year's Women's College World Series are in the poll's Top 10: Florida, Oregon, Alabama (3), Oklahoma (4), Florida State (5), Kentucky (6), Louisiana-Lafayette (9), and Baylor (10). The other two Top 10 slots are filled by UCLA (7) and Michigan (8).
NiJaree Canady, whose sub-1.00 ERA helped lead Stanford to the Women's College World Series in both her years with the Cardinal, announced on July 24 that she is transferring to Texas Tech. I've lived in Lubbock for 27 years and can say that the town has been improving with a greater selection of restaurants and shops, and a new downtown performing arts center. Likewise, nice new facilities have been dotting the Texas Tech campus . Still, it seems unlikely that Canady would have become a Red Raider without the $1 million annual Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal for her, made possible by the donation of a Texas Tech alumni couple. So stunning an event is this, even in the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics, that the New York Times even ran a behind-the-scenes story on Canady's path to Texas Tech. I look forward to being in the stands to watch Canady pitch next spring, an opportunity I never expected to have.