PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After winning back-to-back American Athletic Conference softball championships, UCF has been voted as the favorite to win the 2016 conference title. The Knights earned 33 points and received four first-place votes from the league's seven head coaches in the 2016 preseason coaches' poll.
UCF finished the 2015 season nationally ranked at No. 16 in both the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. The Knights earned their first national ranking in program history on Feb. 17, 2015, and spent 14 consecutive weeks of the season in the top 25.