1996 NCAA Division I softball rankings

1996 NCAA Division I softball season
Preseason No. 1	UCLA
Defending Champions	UCLA
Tournament
Most conference bids	Pac-10, Big 12 (4)
Women's College World Series
Champions	Arizona (4th title)
Runners-up	Washington (1st WCWS Appearance)
Winning Coach	Mike Candrea (4th title)
WCWS MOP	Jenny Dalton (Arizona)
Seasons

The following human polls make up the 1996 NCAA Division I women's softball rankings. The NFCA/USA Today Poll is voted on by a panel of 32 Division I softball coaches and ranks to top 25 teams nationally.

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
Italics		Number of first place votes
(#–#)		Win–loss record
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

NFCA/USA Today

	Week 1[1] Feb 28	Week 2[2] Mar 6	Week 3[3] Mar 13	Week 4[4] Mar 20	Week 5[5] Mar 27	Week 6[6] Apr 2	Week 7[7] Apr 10	Week 8[8] Apr 17	Week 9[9] Apr 24	Week 10[10] May 1	Week 11[11] May 7	Week 12[12] May 28
1.	UCLA (14)	UCLA (9) (12–2)	UCLA (13) (20–2)	Arizona (8) (21–2)	Arizona (16) (27–3)	Arizona (19) (30–4)	Arizona (20) (34–4)	Arizona (20) (38–4)	Washington (19) (40–7)	Washington (20) (44–7)	Washington (20) (49–7)	Arizona (20) (58–9)	1.
2.	Arizona (3)	Washington (6) (16–1)	Arizona (5) (21–2)	Washington (7) (23–1)	UCLA (4) (25–3)	Washington (1) (33–6)	Washington (34–7)	Washington (38–7)	Arizona (1) (39–7)	Arizona (43–9)	Arizona (47–9)	Washington (59–9)	2.
3.	Fresno State	Arizona (5) (14–2)	Washington (2) (16–1)	UCLA (5) (21–3)	Washington (28–5)	UCLA (27–5)	UCLA (28–6)	Fresno State (36–6)	Fresno State (39–7)	Fresno State (43–7)	Fresno State (47–9)	UCLA (47–11)	3.
4.	Washington (2)	Fresno State (4–2)	Fresno State (10–3)	Fresno State (15–4)	Cal State Northridge (26–6)	Fresno State (26–6)	Fresno State (30–6)	UCLA (28–8)	UCLA (30–8)	UCLA (36–8)	UCLA (40–8)	Iowa (49–19)	4.
5.	Cal State Fullerton	Cal State Northridge (13–4)	Cal State Fullerton (16–6)	Cal State Northridge (21–4)	Cal State Fullerton (25–10)	Cal State Northridge (26–6)	Cal State Northridge (28–8)	Cal State Northridge (30–9)	Southwestern Louisiana (39–7)	Southwestern Louisiana (42–8)	Southwestern Louisiana (42–8)	Southwestern Louisiana (46–10)	5.
6.	Southwestern Louisiana (1)	Cal State Fullerton (13–5)	Cal State Northridge (15–4)	UNLV (19–6)	Fresno State (18–6)	UNLV (24–9)	Southwestern Louisiana (31–7)	Southwestern Louisiana (35–7)	Cal State Northridge (34–11)	Cal State Northridge (38–12)	Cal State Northridge (41–13)	California (41–23)	6.
7.	UNLV	UNLV (12–5)	UNLV (17–6)	Cal State Fullerton (21–10)	UNLV (22–9)	South Carolina (26–5)	Cal State Fullerton (32–15)	South Carolina (32–8)	South Carolina (35–9)	South Carolina (35–9)	Michigan (43–12)	Michigan (51–14)	7.
8.	Cal State Northridge	South Carolina (12–1)	South Carolina (18–2)	South Carolina (20–2)	South Carolina (22–5)	Cal State Fullerton (28–13)	South Carolina (26–7)	Michigan (34–10)	Michigan (38–11)	UNLV (35–18)	South Carolina (36–10)	Fresno State (51–11)	8.
9.	Oklahoma	Nebraska (12–3)	Florida State (22–9)	Southwestern Louisiana (22–5)	Southwestern Louisiana (25–7)	Southwestern Louisiana (27–7)	UNLV (25–14)	Cal State Fullerton (34–17)	Cal State Fullerton (37–20)	Michigan (41–11)	Oklahoma (45–18)	Cal State Fullerton (40–27)	9.
10.	California	Oklahoma (15–7)	Southwestern Louisiana (15–4)	Michigan (16–7)	California (22–10)	Michigan (23–9)	Michigan (28–9)	Oklahoma (34–16)	UNLV (33–18)	Oklahoma (42–18)	UNLV (36–21)	South Carolina (38–13)	10.
11.	Nebraska	California (7–4)	Nebraska (12–3)	California (16–7)	Michigan (21–8)	California (24–12)	Oklahoma (30–15)	UNLV (30–17)	Oklahoma (38–17)	California (34–18)	California (36–20)	Cal State Northridge (43–16)	11.
12.	Michigan	Southwestern Louisiana (8–4)	Texas A&M (20–6)	Oklahoma (22–10)	Oklahoma (24–13)	Texas A&M (23–7)	California (27–15)	California (29–17)	California (31–17)	Cal State Fullerton (37–24)	South Florida (40–10)	Oklahoma (50–20)	12.
13.	Florida State	Florida State (13–7)	California (10–5)	Texas A&M (20–6)	Texas A&M (22–6)	Oklahoma (26–14)	Minnesota (27–6)	Minnesota (31–7)	Iowa (36–12)	Iowa (40–13)	Minnesota (42–14)	Florida State (47–21)	13.
14.	South Carolina т	Michigan (4–3)	Oklahoma (18–10)	Florida State (25–13)	Florida State (30–14)	Florida State (32–14)	Florida State (37–14)	Nebraska (29–13)	Nebraska (31–15)	Minnesota (40–10)	Iowa (43–15)	Princeton (47–8–1)	14.
15.	Texas A&M т	Minnesota (18–3)	Michigan (9–6)	Nebraska (16–6)	Minnesota (22–6)	Minnesota (24–6)	Iowa (27–10)	Iowa (30–12)	Minnesota (34–9)	South Florida (39–9)	Cal State Fullerton (39–26)	Oklahoma State (37–20)	15.
16.	Minnesota	Texas A&M (15–5)	Minnesota (18–3)	Iowa (12–4)	Iowa (19–8)	Iowa (22–10)	Texas A&M (25–10)	South Florida (38–9)	Texas A&M (33–12)	Oklahoma State (33–15)	Florida State (48–19)	South Florida (41–12)	16.
17.	Kansas	Indiana (7–4)	Indiana (12–6)	Minnesota (18–3)	Nebraska (22–11)	Nebraska (22–11)	South Florida (36–9)	Florida State (41–17)	Florida State (44–17)	Florida State (44–17)	Oklahoma State (33–15)	Nebraska (41–23)	17.
18.	Cal Poly	UIC (8–2)	Hawaii (15–6)	South Florida (25–7)	South Florida (30–9)	South Florida (32–9)	Nebraska (25–12)	Texas A&M (28–12)	South Florida (39–9)	Nebraska (35–18)	Nebraska (37–18)	UNLV (36–23)	18.
19.	Sacramento State	Hawaii (15–6)	Iowa (8–4)	Indiana (19–9)	Hawaii (22–11)	Arizona State (21–12)	UIC (21–9)	Indiana (27–15)	Notre Dame (40–11)	Notre Dame (45–12)	Long Beach State (34–17)	Minnesota (44–18)	19.
20.	UIC	Pacific (7–1)	UIC (11–5)	Hawaii (20–11)	Arizona State (21–10)	Hawaii (26–15)	Arizona State (22–15)	UIC (29–9)	Indiana (30–17)	Texas A&M (35–15)	Notre Dame (48–14)	Long Beach State (36–22)	20.
21.	Oklahoma State т	Oklahoma State (6–4)	Pacific (9–3)	UIC (16–9)	Indiana (19–11)	UIC (17–9)	Notre Dame (29–10)	Notre Dame (34–11)	UIC (32–10)	UIC (37–11)	Texas A&M (38–18)	Texas A&M (39–21)	21.
22.	Missouri т	Kansas (11–5)	South Florida (17–3)	Arizona State (15–9)	UIC (16–9)	Indiana (19–13)	Indiana (23–14)	Long Beach State (27–16)	Oklahoma State (28–15)	Indiana (34–18)	UIC (39–11)	Nicholls State (46–19–1)	22.
23.	Hawaii	Sacramento State (9–9)	New Mexico State (17–13)	Utah (13–9)	Sacramento State (20–13)	Sacramento State (22–15)	Sacramento State (23–18)	Oklahoma State (25–13)	Sacramento State (29–19)	Long Beach State (31–16)	Indiana (36–19)	Indiana (37–24)	23.
24.	Iowa	Cal Poly (9–4)	Notre Dame (9–8)	Pacific (11–6)	Cal Poly (19–9)	Notre Dame (22–10)	Hawaii (27–18)	Arizona State (34–19)	Long Beach State (27–16)	Princeton (38–6–1)	Princeton (38–6–1)	Notre Dame (48–16)	24.
25.	UTSA	Utah (11–7)	Utah (11–7)	New Mexico State (22–16)	New Mexico State (23–17)	Oklahoma State (18–11)	Long Beach State (23–16)	Sacramento State (26–19)	UMass (30–10–1)	Sacramento State (30–22)	Hawaii (36–25)	Boston University (35–10)	25.
	Week 1[1] Feb 28	Week 2[2] Mar 6	Week 3[3] Mar 13	Week 4[4] Mar 20	Week 5[5] Mar 27	Week 6[6] Apr 2	Week 7[7] Apr 10	Week 8[8] Apr 17	Week 9[9] Apr 24	Week 10[10] May 1	Week 11[11] May 7	Week 12[12] May 28
		Dropped: No. 22 Missouri No. 24 Iowa No. 25 UTSA	Dropped: No. 21 Oklahoma State No. 21 Kansas No. 23 Sacramento State No. 24 Cal Poly	Dropped: No. 24 Notre Dame	Dropped: No. 23 Utah No. 24 Pacific	Dropped: No. 14 Cal Poly No. 25 New Mexico State	Dropped: No. 25 Oklahoma State	Dropped: No. 24 Hawaii	Dropped: No. 24 Arizona State	Dropped: No. 25 UMass	Dropped: No. 25 Cal State Sacramento	Dropped: No. 22 UIC No. 25 Hawaii

References

1. "1996 Week 1 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
2. "1996 Week 2 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
3. "1996 Week 3 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
4. "1996 Week 4 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
5. "1996 Week 5 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
6. "1996 Week 6 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
7. "1996 Week 7 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
8. "1996 Week 8 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
9. "1996 Week 9 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
10. "1996 Week 10 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
11. "1996 Week 11 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
12. "1996 Week 12 Rankings". NFCA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.