Arizona softball ends the season ranked No. 7 in the USA Today/NFCA poll

It was a season of ups and downs, and some of those swings came very close together. Just three weeks after ending the season tied for last place in the Pac-12, the Arizona Wildcats were in Oklahoma City in their most improbable Women’s College World Series appearance ever.

The swings were just as wild in the polls. Arizona began the season ranked ninth by the national coaches before falling out of the poll on May 8. On Tuesday, the NFCA released its final poll. The Wildcats were ranked seventh in the USA Today/NFCA poll to end the season just over a month after dropping out altogether.

Arizona is one of three Pac-12 schools to end in the top eight of the coaches poll, joining No. 3 UCLA and No. 8 Oregon State. ASU at No. 11, Washington at No. 15, No. 18 Stanford, and No. 25 Oregon gave the Pac-12 seven of the top 25 spots in a league where only nine schools play the sport.

The season ended with Oklahoma going wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the coaches poll.