ST. LOUIS – For the second-straight season, the Drake University softball team has been tabbed the favorites in the Missouri Valley Conference's annual preseason poll as voted by the league's coaches, the MVC office announced Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Drake, the back-to-back MVC regular season and tournament champions, earned four first place votes and 89 points in the voting. The Bulldogs return six starters from last season's squad that also qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
Drake opens the 2020 season on Feb. 7 against South Dakota at 6 p.m. at the UNI-Dome Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
2020 MVC Softball Preseason Poll Rankings
| |
School (First-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Drake (4) |
89 |
| 2 |
UNI (4) |
87 |
| 3 |
Southern Illinois (1) |
82 |
| 4 |
Missouri State |
69 |
| 5 |
Illinois State (1) |
60 |
| 6 |
Bradley |
55 |
| 7 |
Indiana State |
31 |
| 8 |
Evansville |
27 |
| 9 |
Loyola |
26 |
| 10 |
Valparaiso |
24 |
