Connect with us

World

NCAA Softball Tournament regionals 2024: Live bracket picks for Road to Women’s College World Series

Published

7 months ago

on

NCAA Softball Tournament regionals 2024: Live bracket picks for Road to Women’s College World Series

The Women’s College World Series doesn’t begin for about another two weeks, but the path to get there has been officially laid out.

On Sunday night, the bracket for the 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament was unveiled, with 64 teams taking one step closer to their championship dreams.

MORE: Watch Road to Women’s College World Series bracket reveal live with Fubo (free trial)

As it has been every year in the event’s modern history, the bracket features 16 seeded teams, each of which hosts the opening set of games. Texas earned the No. 1 overall seed, with longtime rival Oklahoma, which defeated the Longhorns Saturday in the Big 12 championship game, coming in with the No. 2 overall seed. The remaining top eight seeds were No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Missouri and No. 8 Stanford.

Overall, the SEC accounted for eight of the 16 regional hosts and each of the conference’s 13 teams made it into the NCAA Tournament field.

Once the tournament begins, Oklahoma will look to win its fourth consecutive title and sixth in the past eight tournaments. No team has ever won the Women’s College World Series four years in a row.

Here’s the full 2024 NCAA softball tournament bracket, as well as updates from an eventful Selection Sunday:

All times Central. This section will be updated as the bracket is released

6:50 p.m.: McGuffin said Duke’s non-conference strength of schedule hurt it, noting that was a reason the Blue Devils were lower than some might have expected with the No. 10 overall seed.

6:48 p.m.: Softball tournament committee chairman Kurt McGuffin cited Texas’ 16 top-25 wins and its non-conference strength of schedule when explaining why the Longhorns earned the No. 1 overall seed.

6:43 p.m.: Notable that each of the SEC’s 13 softball teams got into the 64-team field, while also accounting for eight of the top 16 seeds. It just means more, or so I’ve heard. And that league will only get stronger next season, with the arrival of Oklahoma and Texas.

6:41 p.m.: The last four in, according to the ESPN broadcast: Indiana, Ole Miss, Penn State and UCF. The first four out? BYU, Louisville, Texas Tech and Wichita State.

6:38 p.m.: The final national seed goes to Texas A&M, which will be the No. 16 overall seed and the eighth SEC team among the top 16. The Aggies will take on Albany in their first game. Penn State and Texas State will be in the regional’s other matchup.

6:36 p.m.: The No. 15 seed goes to Florida State, which will play Chattanooga in its first game. UCF and Auburn will be in the other game in the Tallahassee regional.

6:34 p.m.: Alabama gets the No. 14 overall seed. The Crimson Tide will play USC Upstate while Southeastern Louisiana and Clemson will face off in the other matchup in Tuscaloosa.

6:32 p.m.: Louisiana is the No. 13 seed, the first host from a conference outside of the Power Five. It will take on Princeton in its first game. Ole Miss and Baylor will also be making the trip to Lafayette, Louisiana for the regional.

6:30 p.m.: Yet another SEC team with a top-16 seed, with Arkansas earning the No. 12 seed. The Razorbacks will play against Southeast Missouri State while Villanova and eight-time national champion Arizona will square off in the regional’s other game.

6:29 p.m.: The No. 11 overall seed is Georgia, which will play against UNC Wilmington in its first game. Liberty and Charlotte will also be heading to Athens, Georgia.

6:27 p.m.: We have our first (current) ACC team, with Duke picking up the No. 10 overall seed. The Blue Devils will play Morgan State Friday in Durham, North Carolina. Utah and South Carolina will be there, as well.

6:25 p.m.: Moving past the top eight, LSU gets the No. 9 overall seed and will play another group of Tigers, Jackson State. Southern Illinois and Cal will also be heading to Baton Rouge.

6:17 p.m.: The final host? No. 8 Stanford, which will play fellow Bay Area school Saint Mary’s on Friday night. Cal State Fullerton and Mississippi State round out the Stanford regional.

6:15 p.m.: Missouri will be the No. 7 seed, becoming the third current SEC team to host a regional. That number will obviously swell next season. The Tigers will play Omaha in their first game. Indiana and Washington are also in the region. A couple of future Big Ten rivals.

6:13 p.m.: The No. 6 seed goes to UCLA, one of the sport’s historic powers. Bruins are 37-10 this season. They’ll square off against Grand Canyon to open. San Diego State, which gets to stay close to home, will play Virginia Tech in the other game.

6:12 p.m.: Oklahoma State is the No. 5 seed. A little lower than some might have expected. It will take on Northern Colorado Friday. Michigan and Kentucky will also be heading to Stillwater. Looks like a tough region overall.

6:10 p.m.: Florida is the No. 4 seed. The Gators will face Florida Gulf Coast Friday. Florida Atlantic and South Alabama are the other matchup in the region. Should be a relatively quick drive for the other teams in that region beyond the host.

6:08 p.m.: Tennessee gets the No. 3 seed. The Vols’ region includes Dayton, who they’ll face Friday, as well as Miami (Ohio) and Virginia.

6:07 p.m.: Oklahoma, the three-time reigning national champ, gets the No. 2 overall seed. The Sooners will face Cleveland State in the first round Friday. Boston University and Orego are also in the Norman region.

6:05 p.m.: A bit of a surprise early with Texas getting the No. 1 overall seed. The Longhorns were the No. 1 team in the country entering the Big 12 tournament, but they lost to Oklahoma in the conference title game. They’ll play Siena. Saint Francis (Pa.) and Northwestern are also in the region.

Here’s a look at the 16 sites for the regional portion of the bracket, along with each school that will be playing host:

This section will be updated as regionals are released

  • No. 1 Texas (Austin, Texas)
  • No. 2 Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma)
  • No. 3 Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee)
  • No. 4 Florida (Gainesville, Florida)
  • No. 5 Oklahoma State (Stillwater, Oklahoma)
  • No. 6 UCLA (Los Angeles)
  • No. 7 Missouri (Columbia, Missouri)
  • No. 8 Stanford (Palo Alto, California)
  • No. 9 LSU (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
  • No. 10 Duke (Durham, North Carolina)
  • No. 11 Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
  • No. 12 Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas)
  • No. 13 Louisiana (Lafayette, Louisiana)
  • No. 14 Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
  • No. 15 Florida State (Tallahassee, Florida)
  • No. 16 Texas A&M (College Station, Texas)

REQUIRED READING: Oklahoma softball announces record attendance for 2024 regular season at new Love’s Field

NCAA Softball Tournament bracket 2024

There are four teams in each of the 16 regions. The regional stage of the tournament is double elimination, with the remaining team in the four-team pod moving on to the super regionals. In each region, play begins with the No. 1 seed squaring off against the No. 4 seed while the No. 2 seed and No. 3 seed are matched up against one another.

In the super regionals, two teams, each of which advanced by winning its region, plays a best-of-three series, with the victor moving on to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.

Here’s a look at which teams are in each region:

Austin Regional

  1. Texas (1)
  2. Northwestern
  3. Saint Francis (Pa.)
  4. Siena

Norman Regional

  1. Oklahoma (2)
  2. Oregon
  3. Boston University
  4. Cleveland State

Knoxville Regional

  1. Tennessee (3)
  2. Miami (Ohio)
  3. Virginia
  4. Dayton

Gainesville Regional

  1. Florida (4)
  2. Florida Atlantic
  3. South Alabama
  4. Florida Gulf Coast

Stillwater Regional

  1. Oklahoma State (5)
  2. Michigan
  3. Kentucky
  4. Northern Colorado

Los Angeles Regional

  1. UCLA (6)
  2. San Diego State
  3. Virginia Tech
  4. Grand Canyon

Columbia Regional

  1. Missouri (7)
  2. Washington
  3. Indiana
  4. Omaha

Palo Alto Regional

  1. Stanford (8)
  2. Mississippi State
  3. Cal State Fullerton
  4. Saint Mary’s

Baton Rouge Regional

  1. LSU (9)
  2. Cal
  3. Southern Illinois
  4. Jackson State

Durham Regional

  1. Duke (10)
  2. Utah
  3. South Carolina
  4. Morgan State

Athens Regional

  1. Georgia (11)
  2. Charlotte
  3. Liberty
  4. UNC Wilmington

Fayetteville Regional

  1. Arkansas (12)
  2. Arizona
  3. Villanova
  4. Southeast Missouri State

Lafayette Regional

  1. Louisiana (13)
  2. Baylor
  3. Ole Miss
  4. Princeton

Tuscaloosa Regional

  1. Alabama (14)
  2. Clemson
  3. Southeastern Louisiana
  4. USC Upstate

Tallahassee Regional

  1. Florida State (15)
  2. Auburn
  3. UCF
  4. Chattanooga

College Station Regional

  1. Texas A&M (16)
  2. Penn State
  3. Texas State
  4. Albany

NCAA Softball Tournament schedule 2024

  • Start date: Thursday, May 16/Friday, May 17 (regionals)
  • End date: Thursday, June 6/Friday, June 7 (WCWS championship series)

The 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament will begin on either Thursday, May 16 or Friday, May 17. It will continue through the first week of June, ending either on Thursday, June 6 or Friday, June 7, depending onwhether the WCWS championship series requires three games.

  • Selection show: Sunday, May 12
  • Regionals: May 16/17-19
  • Super Regionals: May 23-25 or May 24-26
  • Women’s College World Series: May 30-June 6/7 in Oklahoma City

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading