As we continue to roll right through the NCAA softball top 25 rankings for the third week of the 2026 college softball season, we’re continuing to see the Texas Tech Red Raiders claiming a spot in the top three grouping within these rankings.
And it sure sounds like Softball America and the folks behind the ESPN/USA Softball poll have the same sort of outlook on how the Red Raiders are doing this season. So far, two of the three major college softball polls have the Red Raiders at No. 2 in the rankings (ESPN/USA Softball).
Today, we can look at D1 Softball and still believe that that’s something of an outlier for the Longhorns to be ranked ahead of the Red Raiders right now.
Texas Tech softball holds the No. 2 ranking in the country according to Softball America Top 25 NCAA rankings
Here’s what the full Softball America Top 25 rankings look like as the Red Raiders get set for the weekend.
- No. 1 - Tennessee Lady Volunteers
- No. 2 - Texas Tech Red Raiders
- No. 3 - Texas Longhorns
- No. - 4 Alabama Crimson Tide
- No. 5 - Arkansas Razorbacks
- No. 6 - Florida Gators
- No. 7 - Oklahoma Sooners
- No. 8 - Nebraska Cornhuskers
- No. 9 - Florida State Seminoles
- No. 10 - UCLA Bruins
- No. 11 - Virginia Tech Hokies
- No. 12 - Georgia Bulldogs
- No. 13 -Oklahoma State Cowgirls
- No. 14 - Oregon Ducks
- No. 15 - Virginia Cavaliers
- No. 6 - Mississippi State Bulldogs
- No. 17 - LSU Tigers
- No. 18 - Texas A&M Aggies
- No. 19 Arizona Wildcats
- No. 20 - Stanford Cardinal
- No. 21 - South Carolina Gamecocks
- No. 22 - Duke Blue Deviles
- No. 23 - Grand Canyon Antelopes
- No. 24 - Penn State Nittany Lions
- No. 25 - North Carolina Tar Heels
If you were to compare things across college softball polls, you’d find the following:
- ESPN/USA Softball Poll: Texas Tech - No. 2
- D1 Softball: Texas Tech - No. 3
- And now, Softball America: Texas Tech - No. 2
Across all three, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers are the top team in the country. After that, it’s a battle between the Red Raiders and the Texas Longhorns. In the D1 Softball rankings, Tennessee leads the way, Texas claims the No. 2 spot, and Texas Tech takes the No. 3 ranking.