NEW YORK, N.Y. – For the second straight year, the Villanova Wildcats are projected as the league favorites according to a preseason poll of BIG EAST softball coaches released on Friday afternoon. 

The reigning conference champion and winners of three of the last four titles, seventh-year head coach Bridget Orchard's Villanova unit picked up top honors in the 2025 BIG EAST Softball Preseason Poll. The 'Cats earned six of the eight possible first place votes and 61 total points, edging out Connecticut for the top spot by four points.

The league's head coaches listed their projected order of finish in the coming season's standings, omitting their own teams. With a proven track record of three titles and two runner-up honors in just five full seasons under Orchard, VU earned two-thirds of the overall first place votes as the Huskies (two) and Creighton (one) also garnered attention for the lead honors.

The coaches predict parity across the top of the league with four squads generating over 40 points, including UConn (57), St. John's (46) and Creighton (43) in addition to Villanova, while Seton Hall fell just outside that threshold (39). The rest of the poll features Butler (28), Providence (27), DePaul (14) and Georgetown (nine).

Villanova begins its quest for a conference title repeat with a loaded non-conference slate, kicking off the campaign in February at Texas A&M with additional non-league trips to Florida Atlantic, Clemson and Virginia Tech.

BIG EAST play starts out on March 7 for the Wildcats, hosting fellow front-runner Connecticut from Mar. 7-9 before welcoming in reigning runner-up Creighton the following week. The rest of the home conference schedule consists of DePaul (Apr. 11-13) and Providence (May 2-4), while the 'Cats make trips to Georgetown (Mar. 21-23), Seton Hall (Mar. 28-30), Butler (Apr. 17-19) and St. John's (Apr. 25-27).

The BIG EAST's top six regular season teams will qualify for the 2025 BIG EAST Softball Championship, hosted this year at the Villanova Softball Complex from May 7-10. The winner of that tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship field.

2025 BIG EAST Softball Preseason Poll

1. Villanova         61 (6)
2. UConn             57 (2)
3. St. John's         46
4. Creighton         43 (1)
5. Seton Hall        39
6. Butler               28
7. Providence      27
8. DePaul            14
9. Georgetown     9