OU softball is the unanimous No. 1-ranked team in USA Softball Preseason Top 25 poll

Sooners unanimous No. 1 in USA Softball Preseason Top 25

The Oklahoma softball team enters the 2022 season as the unanimous No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason Top 25, USA Softball announced Tuesday.

The Sooners received 625 points and all 25 first-place votes to hold the top spot coming off the program’s fifth national title in 2021.

Alabama was voted second with 591 points, while UCLA was third at 549. Oklahoma State (547) and Florida (501) round out the top five.

This marks the third time in program history that the Sooners enter the season as the top-ranked team, joining the 2017 and ’18 squads.

It is the 15th straight season and 18th in the 20-year history of the poll that OU is ranked in the preseason top 10. The poll is voted on by coaching representatives of 11 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball regions and by media members who consistently cover Division I softball across the country.

The 2022 team returns 2021 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Jocelyn Alo, along with four other All-Americans in Jayda Coleman, 2021 NFCA Freshman of the Year Tiare Jennings, Kinzie Hansen and Grace Lyons.

The Sooners were recently selected as the Big 12 preseason favorite, marking the 10th straight year and 13th in the last 14 seasons that OU has topped the conference's preseason poll.

The Sooners open the 2022 season Feb. 10 in Santa Barbara, Calif., vs. UC-Santa Barbara.

Three Big 12 schools are ranked in the top 10, including Oklahoma State (fourth) and Texas (eighth).

The rest of the top 10 includes Alabama (second), UCLA (third), Florida (fifth), Florida State (sixth), Washington (seventh), Arkansas (ninth) and Virginia Tech (10th).

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Saints' Payton to retire from coaching

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, whose 15-year tenure with the club included its only Super Bowl championship and also a one-season suspension stemming from the NFL’s bounty investigation, intends to retire from coaching.

A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the 58-year-old Payton was stepping down.

Payton leaves his first and only NFL head coaching job with a 152-89 regular-season record — and nine playoff appearances — in 15 seasons. The Saints won the NFL title in 2009.

Owners, union make some progress

Major League Baseball withdrew its plan for more limited salary arbitration on Tuesday, a day after the union withdrew its demand for greater free agent eligibility.

In the second straight day of talks aimed at an agreement to end a lockout that started Dec. 2, clubs also accepted the union's framework to funnel additional money to pre-arbitration-eligible players from central revenue.

In addition, management increased its offer to increase the minimum salary for players with less than one year of major league service from $600,000 to $615,000, but with a provision teams couldn't pay more than that amount. Players have proposed a $775,000 minimum next year, up from $570,500.

Management also withdrew its proposal that would have delinked pensions from inflation, which under the current plan results in automatic increases.

Details of the roughly one-hour bargaining session were disclosed by a pair of people familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized.

Given the sides didn't even speak about central economic issues for six weeks before talks resumed Jan. 13, incremental progress over two days was positive as the bickering sides try to end baseball’s ninth work stoppage and first since 1995.

Nadal advances in Aussie Open

With another Australian Open semifinal spot secured after a four-hour, five-set victory, Rafael Nadal looked toward his support team in Rod Laver Arena and nodded his head.

It was like he was just confirming the plan: Five wins down, two to go in his bid for a men's record 21st major title.

On the other side of the net, 14th-seeded Denis Shapovalov broke his racket on the hard blue court after a frustrating 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 loss to Nadal, who later acknowledged he felt “destroyed” physically on a hot Tuesday afternoon.

Classen's Littlepage-Buggs named to McDonald's All-American roster

Darianna Littlepage-Buggs has been recognized as one of the best high school basketball players in the country.

The senior forward at Classen SAS High School was named a McDonald's All American on Tuesday. The announcement was made on ESPN’s “NBA Today.” Littlepage-Buggs is the seventh girls player in state history to earn McDonald's All American honors. Moore’s Aaliyah Moore was selected last season.

The games will return this year after not being played in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The girls game is scheduled to tip at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, on ESPN2. The boys game will tip at 8 on ESPN.

Class 4A second-ranked Classen SAS is 14-1 this season, with its only loss coming against No. 5 nationally ranked Etiwanda at the Nike Tournament of Champions in December. ESPN ranks the Comets at No. 7 nationally.

The Comets face John Marshall at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Extra points

COLLEGE GOLF: Oklahoma State's Maddison Hinston-Tolchard won her first collegiate individual championship Monday afternoon at the Rapsodo in the Desert tournament in Superstition Mountain, Arizona.

Tolchard, a sophomore, shot a career-low 67 in the second round to finish 10-under for the tournament on the Lost Gold Golf Course. The Cowgirls finished second in the team standings, two shots behind Arizona State.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Arizona State has hired former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick as an offensive analyst and adviser to head coach Herm Edwards.

OLYMPIC SKIING: Team USA will be without top women's downhill skier Breezy Johnson at next month's Olympic Games, the gold contender announced on social media Tuesday. The 26-year-old racer crashed during training last week in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, injuring her knee.

Staff and wire reports

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball unanimous No. 1 team in USA Softball Preseason Top 25 poll