Ole Miss Softball Unanimous Top 25 Team in Preseason Polls

Coaches often say preseason polls don’t matter and they’re mostly right.

After all, it doesn’t matter if you start at No. 1 if at the end you’re not even ranked or playing in a championship tournament.

Preseason polls do give fans and media alike a sense of who the best teams might be at the start of the season. Based on the preseason softball polls and rankings, Ole Miss deserves to be in that conversation.

Coming off an appearance in the Women’s College World Series, the Rebels are a unanimous top 25 team with the final of the four major rankings released Tuesday.

Ole Miss was ranked No. 14 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) top 25 rankings. It’s the highest ranking for the Rebels amongst the preseason polls.

The Rebels were also ranked No. 22 in ESPN/USA Softball, No. 24 in D1Softball and No. 25 in Softball America’s preseason rankings. It’s the first unanimous selection for them since 2018.

Several key players from last season’s run to the Women’s College World Series return again in 2026 to pace the Rebels, including All-SEC sophomore Persy Llamas, NFCA All-South Region sophomore Mackenzie Pickens and seniors Taylor Malvin and Taylor Roman. As a whole, the Rebels feature 16 newcomers in the form of 10 transfers and six freshmen.

 The Rebels open the regular season on February 5 in a doubleheader at Cal State Fullerton to kick off the season-opening Easton Classic. The doubleheader is set to begin at 7 p.m.

NFCA/GoRout Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll

1. Texas
2. Texas Tech
3. Oklahoma
4. Tennessee
5. Oregon
6. Florida
7. UCLA
8. Florida State
9. Arkansas
10. Nebraska
11. Texas A&M
12. South Carolina
13. Clemson
14. Ole Miss
15. Alabama
16. LSU
17. Arizona
18. Stanford
19. Virginia Tech
20. Georgia
21. Liberty
22. Mississippi State
23. Duke
24. Oklahoma State
25. Ohio State

Others receiving votes: Virginia (24), Grand Canyon (23), Southeastern Louisiana (13), Florida Atlantic (7), Auburn (6), Michigan (6), Arizona State (1), North Florida (1).