Week 12 of the 2026 NCAA softball season may not have featured as much craziness as a week prior when each of the top three teams in the NFCA/GoRout Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll lost midweek games.
Nevertheless, there's a different team at No. 1 in Softball America new top 25 rankings for the fifth week in a row. The Oklahoma Sooners reclaimed the top spot on Monday, jumping past the Nebraska Cornhuskers for No. 1.
Coach Patty Gasso's team also made another big jump from last week: Oklahoma (46-6, 18-3) moved past the Alabama Crimson Tide (44-5, 16-4) in the SEC standings with only one full weekend series remaining in conference play. The Sooners swept a top-25 series against the Georgia Bulldogs over the weekend in Norman.
Alabama, meanwhile, stayed at No. 3 in the rankings after suffering a 2-0 loss to the No. 8 Tennessee Lady Vols in Knoxville on Sunday, just one day after the Tide opened the series with a 12-0 shutout win on Rocky Top.
Alabama-Tennessee will meet in the series finale Monday. Afterwards, coach Patrick Murphy's team will close out the regular season against South Carolina (29-22, 7-14) at Rhoads Stadium beginning Thursday. Oklahoma concludes regular-season play with a trip to Texas A&M (35-14, 15-6).
The SEC Tournament begins on Tuesday, May 5 in Lexington, Kentucky.
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Elsewhere near the top of the rankings, No. 4 Texas Tech and UCLA rounded out the top five of Softball America's rankings after big weekends by both teams.
The Red Raiders (47-4, 19-2) finished a perfect 5-0 week by completing a three-game sweep of No. 24 Arizona State (35-16, 8-13) in Tempe. With Sunday's 7-1 victory over the Sun Devils, Texas Tech clinched its second straight Big 12 regular-season championship.
Out west, UCLA ran its win streak to 15 straight with a sweep of former Pac-12 rival Washington over the weekend. The Bruins (44-5, 19-2) enter the final week of the regular season just a game behind Nebraska (40-8, 20-1) in the Big Ten standings. UCLA hosts Oregon (38-10, 18-3) in a three-game series beginning Friday.
The Cornhuskers, meanwhile, have won 15 straight after a sweep of the Iowa Hawkeyes over the weekend in Lincoln. Nebraska close out the regular season at Penn State beginning Friday.
Here's a look at the full top 25 rankings from Softball America on April 27.
Alabama infielder Aubrey Taylor (36) reacts to making it safely to first after a Tennessee error, during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.The sun sets during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.Tennessee outfielder Sophia Knight (2) runs to first during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.Alabama celebrates a home run during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.A Brooke Wells home run flies over the wall during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.
1 / 11Photos: Alabama softball crushes Tennessee in top-10 series openerAlabama infielder Aubrey Taylor (36) reacts to making it safely to first after a Tennessee error, during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.1 / 11Photos: Alabama softball crushes Tennessee in top-10 series openerAlabama infielder Aubrey Taylor (36) reacts to making it safely to first after a Tennessee error, during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.2 / 11Photos: Alabama softball crushes Tennessee in top-10 series openerThe sun sets during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.3 / 11Photos: Alabama softball crushes Tennessee in top-10 series openerTennessee outfielder Sophia Knight (2) runs to first during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.4 / 11Photos: Alabama softball crushes Tennessee in top-10 series openerAlabama celebrates a home run during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.5 / 11Photos: Alabama softball crushes Tennessee in top-10 series openerA Brooke Wells home run flies over the wall during a college softball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 25, 2026.
Alabama concludes its three-game series at Tennessee (39-8, 13-6) at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville in primetime Monday. First pitch for Alabama-Tennessee is 6 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
The Crimson Tide wrap up the regular season against South Carolina starting Thursday in Tuscaloosa. First pitch for the series opener is 6 p.m. CT. All three games of the series are scheduled to stream on SEC Network+.
Here's a look at Alabama's 2026 SEC softball schedule with final scores and scheduled start times. All times Central.
March 13-15: vs. Arkansas (W, 4-1; L, 14-9; W, 4-1)
April 2-4: vs. Texas (L, 9-1; W, 11-4; W, 7-4)
April 17-19: vs. Kentucky (W, 9-0, W, 5-4; W, 4-0)