PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Three teams from the American Athletic Conference were featured in major preseason national softball polls entering the upcoming 2020 season. USF and Houston each garnered votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25, while Tulsa also joined its conference counterparts in the initial NFCA rankings.
 
All three teams represented The American in the 2019 NCAA Division I Softball Championship, as USF (NCAA Tallahassee Regional), Houston (NCAA Austin Regional) and Tulsa (NCAA Stillwater Regional) each took part in last season’s national tournament. USF and Tulsa are tied for the most NCAA Regional appearances in conference history, as each institution has reached the postseason four times since The American was officially formed prior to the 2014 campaign (Tulsa joined The American in 2015).
 
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I softball head coaches, one representing each conference that sanctions softball. The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I conferences in the 10 USA Softball regions as well as members of the national and local media who consistently cover Division I softball. The first weekly polls of the regular season will be unveiled on Feb. 11.
 
The 2020 softball season officially kicks off for The American on Feb. 6 when Wichita State takes on Maryland and Texas in Austin, Texas; UCF hosts Indiana in Orlando, Florida; USF hosts Illinois State in Tampa, Florida; and Memphis faces Iowa State in Honolulu, Hawaii. The 2020 American Softball Championship will be contested on May 7-9 at the UCF Softball Stadium in Orlando.