KANSAS CITY, Mo. -After a stellar performance to come back through the elimination bracket at the 2025 NAIA Softball World Series, Southern Oregon will step to the plate ranked No. 1 as the Raiders defend their title, receiving 17 first-place votes. Oklahoma City, Eastern Oregon, and Georgia Gwinnett will begin the year ranked second through fourth, respectively.

Reinhardt (Ga.), who was the first ever five seed to win their opening round pod, will begin the season at No. 18.

The regular season will get underway on January 22, 2026, when the first countable games can be played.

Rank		Institution [First-Place Votes]	2025 Record	Points
1		Southern Oregon [17]	55-9	450
2		Oklahoma City	53-11	435
3		Eastern Oregon	38-11	418
4		Georgia Gwinnett	48-10	398
5		Marian (Ind.)	48-9	375
6		Grand View (Iowa)	42-16	373
7		Cumberlands (Ky.)	40-9	357
8		Central Methodist (Mo.)	42-11	343
9		Science & Arts (Okla.)	50-9	340
10		Oregon Tech	45-11	321
11		Midland (Neb.)	40-18	282
12		Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)	47-9	280
13		LSU Alexandria (La.)	47-9	273
14		Madonna (Mich.)	45-10	247
15		Reinhardt (Ga.)	32-12	238
16		Missouri Baptist	46-8	235
17		Northwestern (Iowa)	48-13	207
18		St. Thomas (Fla.)	46-8	199
19		Southeastern (Fla.)	42-11	184
20		Indiana Wesleyan	44-11	162
21		Hope International (Calif.)	37-15	149
22		Texas A&M - Texarkana	41-12	121
23		Saint Xavier (Ill.)	37-8	119
24		Rio Grande (Ohio)	46-11	90
25		Evangel (Mo.)	42-12	75
Receiving Votes: Mobile (Ala.) 50; Friends (Kan.) 44; College of Idaho 39; William Carey (Miss.) 18; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 16; Baker (Kan.) 13; Campbellsville (Ky.) 11; Morningside (Iowa) 9; Tennessee Southern 8; Benedictine (Kan.) 6; Keiser (Fla.) 5; British Columbia 5; Indiana Tech 3; Coastal Georgia (Ga.) 2

Key:
RV - Receiving Votes

NR - Not Ranked

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Poll Methodology

• The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
• A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
• The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system:
  • 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
• The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
• Teams receiving only one point are not listed as "receiving votes."
• For the Preseason Poll, there is no "previous ranking" column since it is the initial poll and differs from the prior rating system.