It’s May 1, and that means the NCAA Softball Tournament will commence in just a couple of weeks. Next week will decide all of the conference championships, and Selection Sunday will follow.
So, how will the tournament field be selected, and what will it look like? The process is rather simple but time-consuming.
The field consists of 32 automatic qualifiers and 32 at-large bids. Of the 32 automatic qualifiers, 30 of them will earn bids by winning their conference tournament (the Big West and WCC regular season champions will earn the other two bids).
The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) is used heavily in these projections, as it is when the selection committee creates the field during the Selection Show.
16 national seeds will be selected, and each team will host a regional site for the first round of the tournament. At each campus site, a four-team, double-elimination tournament will be held, and the 16 winning teams will advance to the Super Regionals.
The Super Regionals are hosted on eight campus sites, determined by the Regionals winner’s seeding. At each site, two teams play in a best-of-three tournament, with the winners going to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.
Field of 64 Projection: Wednesday, May 1
AUSTIN REGIONAL
1. Texas (1)
4. Prairie View A&M*
2. South Carolina
3. South Dakota State*
NORMAN REGIONAL
1. Oklahoma* (2)
4. Dayton*
2. Oregon
3. Penn State
KNOXVILLE REGIONAL
1. Tennessee* (3)
4. Youngstown State*
2. Virginia
3. Miami (OH)*
BATON ROUGE REGIONAL
1. LSU (4)
4. Marist*
2. Arizona
3. McNeese*
PALO ALTO REGIONAL
1. Stanford* (5)
4. Sacramento State*
2. Auburn
3. Grand Canyon*
DURHAM REGIONAL
1. Duke* (6)
4. Howard*
2. Mississippi State
3. Liberty*
ATHENS REGIONAL
1. Georgia (7)
4. Gardner-Webb*
2. Charlotte*
3. Eastern Kentucky*
LOS ANGELES REGIONAL
1. UCLA (8)
4. Cal State Fullerton*
2. Kentucky
3. San Diego State*
TUSCALOOSA REGIONAL
1. Alabama (16)
4. Loyola Marymount*
2. Clemson
3. South Alabama
GAINESVILLE REGIONAL
1. Florida (15)
4. Chattanooga*
2. Virginia Tech
3. Michigan
TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL
1. Florida State (14)
4. Delaware*
2. UCF
3. FAU
LAFAYETTE REGIONAL
1. Louisiana* (13)
4. Saint Francis*
2. Baylor
3. Ole Miss
COLLEGE STATION REGIONAL
1. Texas A&M (12)
4. E. Illinois*
2. Texas State
3. Texas Tech
FAYETTEVILLE REGIONAL
1. Arkansas (11)
4. Villanova*
2. Washington
3. Kansas
STILLWATER REGIONAL
1. Oklahoma State (10)
4. Binghamton*
2. California
3. Boston*
COLUMBIA REGIONAL
1. Missouri (9)
4. Princeton*
2. Northwestern
3. Southern Illinois*
Bubble Host Teams: Texas State, Virginia Tech, Washington, Arizona
Last Four In: Michigan, FAU, Kansas, Ole Miss
First Four Out: Utah, Louisville, Indiana, Nebraska
Next Four Out: Nevada, Wichita State, South Florida, Fresno State
