Austin, Texas Regional
- (6) Texas (46-10) vs. Eastern Illinois (34-20)
- Michigan (38-19) vs. UCF (33-22-1)
Clemson, South Carolina Regional
- (11) Clemson (44-12) vs. USC Upstate (39-14)
- Northwestern (29-18-1) vs. Kentucky (29-26)
Austin Regional winner will play Clemson Regional winner in the Super Regionals
Knoxville, Tennessee Regional
- (7) Tennessee (40-14) vs. Miami (Ohio) (35-24)
- North Carolina (40-15) vs. Ohio State (43-12-1)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Regional
- (10) LSU (41-14) vs. Southeastern Louisiana (48-14)
- UConn (35-17) vs. Nebraska (39-13)
Knoxville Regional winner will play Baton Rouge Regional winner in the Super Regionals
Norman, Oklahoma Regional
- (2) Oklahoma (45-7) vs. Boston University (38-17)
- Omaha (39-11) vs. Cal (35-19)
Tuscaloosa, Alabama Regional
- (15) Alabama (37-21) vs. Jackson State (28-23)
- Belmont (40-14) vs. Virginia Tech (41-11)
Norman Regional winner will play Tuscaloosa Regional winner in the Super Regionals
NCAA Softball Tournament Regional Sites
Regional hosts are rewarded based on the NCAA tournament selection committee’s ranking of the top 16 teams.
- Texas A&M (College Station, Texas)
- Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma)
- Florida (Gainesville, Florida)
- Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas)
- Florida State (Tallahassee, Florida)
- Texas (Austin, Texas)
- Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee)
- South Carolina (Columbia, South Carolina)
- UCLA (Los Angeles)
- LSU (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
- Clemson (Clemson, South Carolina)
- Texas Tech (Lubbock, Texas)
- Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)
- Duke (Durham, North Carolina)
- Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
- Oregon (Eugene, Oregon)
Last four of the NCAA softball tournament in
Washington, Indiana, Georgia Tech, and Northwestern were the final four teams to qualify for the 64-team bracket, according to the NCAA softball tournament selection committee. Out of the four teams, three are Big Ten teams.
The chair of the NCAA tournament selection committee explains bracket selections
After the 64-team bracket was revealed, Tennessee-Martin athletic director Kurt McGuffin, chair of the NCAA softball tournament selection committee, spoke on ESPN to discuss some of the committee’s most important choices, such as selecting Texas A&M as the top overall seed.
The top overall seed in the 2025 NCAA softball tournament is Texas A&M
The Aggies are the top-seeded team in the 2025 NCAA softball tournament, according to the most recent USA Softball poll.
The format of the NCAA softball tournament
Millions of people fill out the NCAA basketball brackets every March, but the NCAA softball tournament works slightly differently.
The 64-team bracket is first divided into 16 four-team pods known as regionals, with the top seed of the quartet acting as the host, as opposed to a single-elimination competition. The NCAA selection committee chooses the 16 regional hosts. The four teams compete in a double-elimination tournament in each regional, and the top-seeded team advances to the super regional round, where it will face another regional champion, who will host. A best-of-three series between two teams is played in the super regional round.
Another double-elimination tournament begins at the Women’s College World Series, where the victor of each of the eight super regionals advances. The NCAA champion is decided by a best-of-three championship series after there are just two teams left that have lost one or fewer games.
The NCAA softball regionals begin when?
The 2025 NCAA softball tournament’s regional round will start on Friday, May 16, and run through Sunday, May 18.
Projected NCAA softball regionals
According to projections from the USA TODAY Network, the 16 NCAA softball tournament regional hosts will be, in order:
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- Florida State
- Arkansas
- Florida
- UCLA
- Texas
- Oregon
- LSU
- Texas Tech
- Clemson
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Duke
- Arizona
- Virginia Tech
Automatic bids for NCAA softball
Here are the teams that won their conference tournaments and received automatic bids to the 2025 NCAA softball tournament:
Conferences are listed in alphabetical order
- America East: Binghamton
- American Athletic Conference: South Florida
- ACC: Clemson
- A-Sun: North Florida
- Atlantic 10: Saint Louis
- Big East: UConn
- Big Sky: Weber State
- Big South: USC Upstate
- Big Ten: Michigan
- Big 12: Texas Tech
- Big West: UC Santa Barbara
- Coastal Athletic Association: Elon
- Conference USA: Liberty
- Horizon League: Robert Morris
- Ivy League: Brown
- Mid-American Conference: Miami (Ohio)
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Marist
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Howard
- Missouri Valley: Belmont
- Mountain West: San Diego State
- Northeast Conference: Saint Francis
- Ohio Valley: Eastern Illinois
- Patriot League: Boston University
- SEC: Oklahoma
- Southern Conference: Mercer
- Southland: Southeastern Louisiana
- Summit League: Omaha
- Sun Belt: Coastal Carolina
- Southwestern Athletic Conference: Jackson State
- Western Athletic Conference: Grand Canyon
- West Coast Conference: Santa Clara
When does the NCAA softball selection show take place?
- Date: Sunday, May 11
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
The selection show for the 2025 NCAA softball tournament is set to start on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
Which tv channel broadcasts the NCAA softball selection show?
- TV channel: ESPN2
- ESPN app | ESPN+ | Fubo (free trial) live stream
ESPN2 will broadcast the 2025 NCAA softball tournament selection show on Sunday.
The show may be streamed on the ESPN app, which requires a cable connection, and on Fubo, which provides prospective customers with a free trial.