As the 2020 season approaches, Alabama softball was highlighted in three separate preseason ranking polls as either number one or number two on the lists, while Auburn also made its way in the top 25 on two of the lists.

Alabama softball is the preseason No. 1 in USA Softball’s rankings and No. 2 in the NFCA and Softball America top 25 lists.

A press release from the Alabama Athletics Communications noted:

The Crimson Tide earned 12 first-place votes in the USA Softball poll and 11 in the NFCA poll, the most of any team. The preseason rankings are Alabama’s highest in those two polls since the 2013 season. The Tide finished last year ranked No. 4 in all three rankings. Last week, the Tide claimed the top spot in D1Softball’s preseason poll, the inaugural set of rankings for the site.

Defending SEC champion Alabama will receive a total of 13 players from last year’s team that won 60 games, claimed the program’s fifth SEC regular-season title and advanced to the final day of bracket play at the 2019 Women’s College World Series.

The Crimson Tide softball team will open its 2020 season, head coach Patrick Murphy’s 22nd season at the school, at the Joanne Graf Classic in Tallahassee, Florida, on February 7 and 8. They are slated to play two games each against North Carolina and host Florida State.

Auburn’s softball team was rated No. 23 by both NFCA and Softball America, but was left out of USA Softball’s top 25 list.

The Tigers open the season with Baylor in Clearwater, Florida, in the NFCA Leadoff Classic on February 7.

Kyle Morris also contributes daily to Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @RealKyleMorris.