Fordham enters the season the top overall selection in the poll, securing 95 total points behind six first-place votes. The Rams secured the program's ninth title last year after compiling a 30-23 overall mark and 15-8 run in A-10 competition, eventually knocking off top-seeded George Washington, 6-3, in a winner-take-all championship finale.
 
Saint Joseph's earned distinction at second on the Preseason Poll, collecting 77 total points with one first-place vote. Saint Joseph's notched the third seed in the A-10 Championship a season ago after composing a 23-23 (14-8) record, falling to eventual-champion Fordham in the quarterfinals by a slim 3-2 margin before suffering elimination in the consolation bracket to fifth-seeded Dayton, 3-1.
 
Reigning regular-season champion George Washington slid in at No. 3 overall on the Preseason Poll with 74 points while Dayton (70 points) trailed just behind the Colonials at fourth, both of which earning a single first-place vote. GW closed out last season at 36-16 with a near-perfect 21-3 mark in league play, coming up short of a repeat title despite battling back from a narrow semifinals loss to second-seeded Fordham, initially topping the Rams in the first game of Championship Sunday, 6-3, before falling in a decisive finale by the same margin. Dayton, meanwhile, wrapped up the year at 22-25 (12-11) en route to advancing to the semifinals of last year's championship.
 
With 62 total points, Saint Louis grabbed fifth in the poll after going 22-29 this past season with a 13-10 mark in league play. Massachusetts (49 points), George Mason (47 points, one first-place vote) and league newcomer Loyola Chicago (42 points) scored the next three slots at sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. The Billikens served as the fourth seed in the 2022 A-10 Championship while UMass clinched the sixth and final slot.
 
Rhode Island (23 points) and St. Bonaventure (11 points) rounded out the poll.
 
The 2023 A-10 Softball season officially starts on Thursday, Feb. 9 with seven of the league's 10 programs getting underway during the opening weekend. Conference play begins on Saturday, March 18 before the league concludes the campaign with the 2023 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship, set for May 10-13 at Bahoshy Field on the campus of Fordham University in Bronx, N.Y.
 

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