OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The UCLA Bruins, fresh off winning the 2003 national title, rank No. 1 in the preseason edition of the 2004 ESPN.com /USA Softball Top 25 Collegiate Poll. Set to kick-off the season on February 7 against Santa Clara, the Bruins return 11 players from the 2003 championship roster including pitching workhorse Keira Goerl (Moreno Valley, Calif.) who tossed a no-hitter in the 2003 NCAA title game. With the addition of two powerful freshman in National Player of the Year Lisa Dodd (San Diego) and USA Softball Junior National Team member Jodie Legaspi (Garden Grove, Calif.) the Bruins are loaded once again.

Listed at No. 2, the 2003 national runner-up California Bears will return to the field led by pitcher Kelly Anderson (Woodland, CA). Close behind the top two is always competitive Arizona at No. 3. The Wildcats return first team All-American pitcher Alicia Hollowell (Suisun, Calif.) and senior catching sensation Mackenzie Vandergeest (Newbury Park, Calif).

Oklahoma makes the charts at No. 4 after an appearance in the 2003 WCWS. The Sooners return pitching ace Kami Keiter (Arvada, Colo.) and will have the services of a talented freshman in USA Softball Junior National Team member Norelle Dickson (Orange, Calif.). The Washington Huskies round out the top 5 returning hurler Tia Bollinger (Santa Ana, Calif.) and 2003 first-team Pac 10 catcher Kristen Rivera (Perris, Calif.).

Seven of the eight 2003 WCWS teams enter 2004 in the Top 10. Despite not being in the Top 25 poll in 2003, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers crack the poll at No. 25 in large part to the addition of freshman ace Monica Abbott (Salinas, Calif.). Abbott led the USA Softball Junior Women's Team to a silver medal at the ISF Junior Women's World Championships this past fall and is considered one of the top freshman in the country.

The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I coaches representing 15 different ASA regions and 12 different collegiate conferences. The poll is also voted on by selected softball media members. First-place votes are in parentheses.

ESPN.com/USA Preseason Softball Collegiate Top 25
	Team	Points	2003 Record	2003 Ranking
1.	UCLA (18)	474	54-7	1
2.	California (1)	442	49-20	2
3.	Arizona	436	56-7	3
4.	Oklahoma	412	47-14	6
5.	Washington	237	47-16-1	5
6.	Alabama	358	49-21	7
7.	Michigan	277	44-16	13
8.	Nebraska	276	39-17	16
9.	Louisiana Lafayette	268	47-11	8
10.	Georgia	258	57-14	14
11.	Texas	254	49-9	4
12.	Stanford	236	41-26	18
13.	Oregon	220	37-19	11
14.	DePaul	219	48-7-1	10
15.	LSU	199	50-18	17
16.	Cal State Fullerton	180	41-15	9
17.	Texas A&M	168	38-22	15
18.	Iowa	166	44-15	20
19.	Arizona State	145	32-25	22
20.	Florida State	139	46-11	21
21.	Fresno State	127	36-22	--
22.	Oklahoma State	96	39-15	12
23.	Oregon State	93	36-31	25
24.	Michigan State	62	40-19	19
25.	Tennessee	59	45-25	--

Others receiving votes: South Carolina 47, Florida 37, Southern Illinois 35, Pacific 26, Northwestern 16, Massachusetts 15, Ohio State 14, Minnesota 9, Texas State 8, Baylor 8, Notre Dame 4, South Florida 2 and Florida Atlantic 1.