PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After winning back-to-back American Athletic Conference softball championships, UCF has been voted as the favorite to win the 2016 conference title. The Knights earned 33 points and received four first-place votes from the league’s seven head coaches in the 2016 preseason coaches’ poll.
UCF finished the 2015 season nationally ranked at No. 16 in both the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. The Knights earned their first national ranking in program history on Feb. 17, 2015, and spent 14 consecutive weeks of the season in the top 25. UCF concluded 2015 with an overall record of 50-9, marking the first 50-win season in program history. The Knights claimed The American regular season championship with a conference record of 16-2, and then earned The American’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after winning the conference tournament. UCF made its sixth NCAA appearance, playing in the Tallahassee Regional for the first time. Senior Shelby Turnier returns as one half of UCF’s 2015 pitching duo. Turnier was named an NFCA All-American after leading the nation last year with a 0.87 ERA. The Knights also return seven more starters, including the 2015 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Jessica Ujvari, who hit .314 with seven home runs and a team-leading 38 RBI last season.
Tulsa finished second in the 2016 poll with 31 points and received two first-place votes. The Golden Hurricane tallied 36 wins overall in 2015, marking the fifth consecutive year and eighth time in program history it won at least 35 games. Tulsa ranked in the top 50 of the NCAA Division I statistical leaders in four categories. The Hurricane also led the conference in numerous offensive categories including batting average, on-base percentage, runs, home runs and total bases. Senior catcher Catherine Horner was named to the 2015 NFCA All-Mideast Region Third Team. Horner started 53 games for Tulsa, recording 230 putouts, 31 assists and only three errors to produce a .989 fielding percentage. The Hurricane took second place in the 2015 conference championship, falling to top-seeded UCF, 1-0.
The coaches voted Houston in third place with 27 points and one first-place vote. The Cougars finished the 2015 season 28-27 overall for their 14th consecutive season with a winning record. Houston returns senior left-handed pitcher Julana Shrum, who earned her first NFCA All-Region Honor as a member of the Central Region Third Team last year.
USF followed in fourth place with 23 points, while East Carolina was picked fifth with 12 points. Memphis tallied 11 points to finish sixth, followed by UConn with 10 points to round out the poll.
The 2016 softball season begins Thursday, Feb. 11.
2016 American Athletic Conference Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
| School | Points | |
| 1. | UCF (4) | 33 |
| 2. | Tulsa (2) | 31 |
| 3. | Houston (1) | 27 |
| 4. | USF | 23 |
| 5. | East Carolina | 12 |
| 6. | Memphis | 11 |
| 7. | UConn | 10 |
(First-place votes in parentheses)
