MARSHALL, Texas — For the eighth time in the last 13 years, East Texas Baptist University opens the new season ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 10. In the first NFCA 2026 softball preseason poll, ETBU is ranked No. 9 with 170 points. The Tigers have now earned a spot in the top 25 for the 16th time since the team debuted in 2000 and have been ranked in the NFCA poll for 159 consecutive weeks.
ETBU finished the 2025 season with a record of 43-5, winning the American Southwest Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championships, the NCAA Division III Marshall, Texas Regional, and hosting the Super Regionals. They finished last season at No. 9 in the final NFCA Poll. This season, ETBU is scheduled to face four opponents currently ranked in the top 15: No. 1 Trine, No. 14 Belhaven, No. 15 Emory College, and No. 25 Swarthmore. ETBU will also face storied programs that have been in the NCAA Tournament, in Coe College, DePauw, and Berry College, on their Spring Break Trip to Georgia and Florida.
Since the NFCA Preseason Poll debuted in 2000, ETBU has been in 16 of them, with no poll released from 2004 to 2010.
ETBU will host Austin College in a doubleheader Saturday, February 7, at 1:00 p.m., hosted at Bell Park at Taylor Field.
ETBU's Ranking in the NFCA Preseason Poll since the program's start in 2000:
2026: 9th
2025: 1st
2024: 16th
2023: 13th
2022: 4th
2021: 1st
2020: 13th
2019: 21st
2018: 16th
2017: 5th
2016: 4th
2015: 3rd
2014: 8th
2013: N/A
2012: 19th
2011: 10th
2010-2004 No Poll
2003: 11th
2002: N/A
2001: N/A
2000: N/A
NFCA/GoRout Division III Top 25 Softball Coaches Poll – Feb. 3, 2026
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
Final 2025 Record |
| 1 |
Trine (10) |
250 |
46-5 |
| 2 |
Virginia Wesleyan |
240 |
49-6-1 |
| 3 |
Linfield |
230 |
45-7 |
| 4 |
Redlands |
220 |
40-11 |
| 5 |
Saint Mary's (Minn.) |
210 |
44-7 |
| 6 |
Rowan |
200 |
49-4 |
| 7 |
Randolph-Macon |
190 |
42-14 |
| 8 |
Texas Lutheran |
180 |
44-5 |
| 9 |
East Texas Baptist |
170 |
43-5 |
| 10 |
Christopher Newport |
160 |
37-6 |
| 11 |
Wisconsin-Whitewater |
150 |
39-8 |
| 12 |
Moravian |
140 |
40-9 |
| 13 |
Wisconsin-Stevens Point |
130 |
31-15 |
| 14 |
Belhaven |
120 |
32-9 |
| 15 |
Emory |
110 |
33-14 |
| 16 |
Huntingdon |
100 |
38-7 |
| 17 |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
90 |
39-8 |
| 18 |
Salisbury |
80 |
36-8-1 |
| 19 |
St. Thomas (Texas) |
70 |
34-12 |
| 20 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
60 |
37-9 |
| 21 |
Simpson |
50 |
34-9 |
| 22 |
Williams |
40 |
27-14 |
| 23 |
Chapman |
30 |
33-11 |
| 24 |
WashU |
20 |
34-7 |
| 25 |
Swarthmore |
5 |
33-12 |
Others receiving votes: Wisconsin-Eau Claire 2, Central 1, Ithaca 1, Messiah 1.
