California may have beaten the Arizona softball team last May at the Women's College World Series, but the Wildcats have beaten the Golden Bears in another preseason poll.
Arizona, No. 3 in the espn.com/USA Softball poll, was ranked No. 2 in the preseason USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll. Cal, No. 2 in the first poll, was ranked No. 3.
In the Pacific 10 Conference coaches' poll, Arizona was picked to finish second behind UCLA. The Golden Bears were third.
In the USA Today/NFCA poll, the UA earned 632 points, while Cal got 629, including one first-place vote. The Bruins got 674 points, along with the other 26 first-place votes.
Arizona, along with Oklahoma, remains one of only two teams to be ranked in every single NFCA poll. The poll was started in 1995.
In both polls, the Pac-10 has four teams in the top five. Defending national champion UCLA is top-ranked in both polls and Washington is No. 5 in both. Stanford is No. 15, Oregon No. 16, Arizona State No. 20 and Oregon State is receiving votes in the latest poll.
The USA Today/NFCA Division I poll is voted on by 27 Division I coaches and the espn.com/USA softball poll is voted on by coaches from 15 different Amateur Softball Association of America regions and select media members.