Mary Nutter Invitational (2019)

The annual Mary Nutter Classic begins today in Cathedral City, California, near Palm Springs. The field includes 28 collegiate teams and three non-collegiate squads (Team Japan, ScrapYard Fastpitch, and National Pro Fastpitch [NPF] All-Stars).

Among the college teams, the three headliners are UCLA (ranked No. 2 or 3 in each of the three national polls), Oklahoma (ranked No. 2 or 4), and Washington (ranked No. 5 or 6). The Bruins and Sooners will face each other Friday at 6:00 pm Pacific.

The school at which I teach, Texas Tech, is ranked No. 23 and 25 in two of the polls -- the Red Raiders' first appearance in the rankings in seven years -- and will be participating in the Mary Nutter Classic. The Red Raiders are 10-0 on the season and have wins over Auburn, Wisconsin, and Nebraska (twice). These have all been NCAA tournament-caliber teams in recent years. Tech will face a challenging set of games in Cathedral City, including against ranked Pac-12 teams Arizona State, Oregon, and Washington.

Another noteworthy aspect of the national rankings is that Michigan (my graduate-school alma mater) has a losing (4-5) record and is unranked for the first time in 18 years! Texas Tech ranked and Michigan not -- who saw that coming?

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