The No. 8 became something of a mascot for last season’s Alabama softball team. The digit hung in the clubhouse of Rhoads Stadium as a reminder of the SEC coaches poll ranking assigned to the Crimson Tide.

It was fuel for a season a season that ended with 60 wins in Oklahoma City one win short of the national championship series.

Well, that doubt of last early February is gone. Long gone.

When Alabama opens the season Friday in Tallahassee, it’ll have that coveted vertical digit next to its name. Returning the core of the SEC regular-season champions, Alabama was the preseason No. 1 in two national polls previewing the 2020 season.

Pressure?

“We’re going to take it as ‘thank you,’” outfielder Elissa Brown said, “but we still have to play our game and not worry about what the outside word is doing.”

Coach Patrick Murphy can see the target on his team’s back.

“It’s like a curse and a blessing to be at Alabama, you know with football. With the (six-time champion) Patriots, with the (27-time world champion) Yankees, any good team, everybody is going to play your best against you. It doesn’t matter if you’re ranked No. 1 or No. 18 or whatever, they’re still going to circle that game. It’s just the way it goes. We have to bring it every single game because if we don’t, we know we’re going to get beat.”

A year ago, Alabama rode that preseason doubt to winning its first 33 games of the season. The first loss game March 24 in a season that ended with the program’s first 60-win season since winning the national title in 2012.

A streak of that magnitude will get an early test this weekend.

After opening with North Carolina at noon Central, the Tide faces No. 9 Florida State for two consecutive games in their home stadium. A 5 p.m. CT Friday game is followed by a 2 p.m. CT Saturday rematch as part of the Joanne Graf Classic in Tallahassee. The weekend closes with a 4:30 p.m. CT Saturday game with North Carolina, a team that went 38-20 last season before losing to Tennessee in the NCAA regional.

It doesn’t get any easier in the second weekend with 2019 national champion UCLA and national semifinalist Washington scheduled as part of the St. Pete/Clearwater Invitational from Feb. 13-15.

Alabama has 13 players back from a team that finished 60-10 including ace pitcher Montana Fouts, slugger Bailey Hemphill and leadoff speedster Brown. The biggest loses from last year include catcher Reagan Dykes, outfielder Merris Schroder, pitcher Courtney Gettins and utility Caroline Hardy.

Alabama will also be without starting infielder Claire Jenkins who tore her ACL in October.

The Tide’s first home game in renovated Rhoads Stadium comes Feb. 21 as part of the Bama Bash. Wichita State, Penn State and Louisville will come to Tuscaloosa the week after the Clearwater, Florida event.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.