The USA South Athletic Conference's softball coaches have released their 2024 preseason poll. Head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.
Pfeiffer, the defending USA South regular season and tournament champions, was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 80 total points and eight of the possible ten first place votes. The Falcons finished last season with a 15-3 regular season Conference record which was good for a third consecutive regular season crown. Greensboro was second in the poll with 69 total points and one first place vote while N.C. Wesleyan claimed third with 59 points. Finally, Meredith rounded out the top-four with 54 points and the final first place vote.
Pfeiffer has previously been picked first by the coaches in each of the five USA South preseason polls they have been eligible to be ranked in since joining the Conference. Since the first Conference softball preseason poll in 2003, the team picked first has won the League title nine out of 19 years. Conversely, the second place team in the poll has grabbed the League title twice while the team picked fifth has earned the championship five times.
The 2024 USA South Softball Tournament will once again be conducted exclusively on campus sites. The top-eight seeded teams will advance to postseason play which will begin with two, four-team, double-elimination tournaments on Thursday-Saturday, May 2-4. The winners of the those two tournaments will face each other in a best-of-three championship series the following weekend, Friday-Saturday, May 10-11.
| 2024 USA South Coaches Preseason Softball Poll |
| Rank |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Pfeiffer* (8) |
80 |
| 2. |
Greensboro (1) |
69 |
| 3. |
N.C. Wesleyan |
59 |
| 4. |
Meredith (1) |
54 |
| 5. |
William Peace |
48 |
| 6. |
Mary Baldwin |
46 |
| 7. |
Methodist |
37 |
| 8. |
Southern Virginia |
31 |
| t-9. |
Brevard |
13 |
| t-9. |
Salem |
13 |
| *Defending Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
All-Time Softball Conference Records
(listed by wins of current Conference members...
records since 1985 when fastpitch began...not counting 2020 COVID season) |
| Team |
Seasons |
Record |
Pct. |
Conference Championships
(Reg. Season / Tournament) |
| Methodist |
38 |
344-222-0 |
.608 |
8 / 8 |
| N.C. Wesleyan |
38 |
293-266-1 |
.524 |
6 / 5 |
| Greensboro |
29 |
244-209-2 |
.538 |
0 / 1 |
| William Peace |
19 |
167-171-1 |
.494 |
0 / 0 |
| Meredith |
15 |
149-132-0 |
.530 |
1 / 0 |
| Pfeiffer |
4 |
51-13-0 |
.797 |
3 / 1 |
| Salem |
5 |
43-47-0 |
.478 |
2 / 0 |
| Mary Baldwin |
15 |
26-252-0 |
.094 |
0 / 0 |
| Brevard |
4 |
19-45-0 |
.297 |
0 / 0 |
| Southern Virginia |
2 |
7-29-0 |
.194 |
0 / 0 |