After months of hard work and thousands of games played by 300 Division I softball teams from across the country, an NCAA tournament bracket has been revealed.
The 64-team field is set for the 2025 NCAA tournament, with matchups and regional sites getting unveiled Sunday night.
The SEC, as has been the case for much of the season, had a dominant presence, with seven of the top eight national seeds for the tournament, a group led by No. 1 overall seed Texas A&M and four-time reigning national champion Oklahoma, the event’s No. 2 overall seed. In all, 14 of the league’s 15 teams made the NCAA tournament., with only Missouri getting left out.
REQUIRED READING: Texas A&M is top overall seed in 2025 NCAA softball tournament: schedule for Aggies
Over the next three weeks, some of the most pressing questions in college softball will be answered: Will four-time Oklahoma be able to win its fifth title in a row? How many teams will the SEC end up sending to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series? In a sport in which only three programs have won more than two NCAA championships, will a newcomer break through and win it all?
Here’s a look at the NCAA tournament bracket, national seed and matchups from Selection Sunday:
NCAA softball tournament selection show live updates
REQUIRED READING: When does 2025 NCAA Softball Tournament start? Regional schedules, venues
Division I softball bracket
This section will be updated as the NCAA tournament bracket is unveiled.
College Station, Texas Regional
- (1) Texas A&M (45-9) vs. Saint Francis (26-24)
- Marist (47-7-1) vs. Liberty (47-12)
Eugene, Oregon Regional
- (16) Oregon (47-7) vs. Weber State (28-30)
- Binghamton (36-12) vs. Stanford (40-11)
College Station Regional winner will play Eugene Regional winner in the Super Regionals
Columbia, South Carolina Regional
- (8) South Carolina (40-15) vs. Elon (33-19)
- North Florida (45-13) vs. Virginia (37-17)
Los Angeles Regional
- (9) UCLA (49-10) vs. UC Santa Barbara (34-24)
- San Diego State (37-17) vs. Arizona State (35-19)
Columbia Regional winner will play Los Angeles Regional winner in the Super Regionals
Fayetteville, Arkansas Regional
- (4) Arkansas (40-12) vs. Saint Louis (34-22)
- Indiana (33-18) vs. Oklahoma State (33-18)
Tucson, Arizona Regional
- (13) Arizona (45-11) vs. Santa Clara (32-20)
- Grand Canyon (46-6) vs. Ole Miss (37-17)
Fayetteville Regional winner will play Tucson Regional winner in the Super Regionals
Tallahassee, Florida Regional
- (5) Florida State (46-9) vs. Robert Morris (30-16)
- Auburn (32-22) vs. South Florida (43-14-1)
Lubbock, Texas Regional
- (12) Texas Tech (45-12) vs. Brown (33-15)
- Washington (34-17) vs. Mississippi State (37-17)
Tallahassee Regional winner will play Lubbock Regional winner in the Super Regionals
Gainesville, Florida Regional
- (3) Florida (43-14) vs. Mercer (38-24)
- Georgia Tech (27-22) vs. Florida Atlantic (44-10)
Durham, North Carolina Regional
- (14) Duke (38-16) vs. Howard (31-18)
- Coastal Carolina (41-17) vs. Georgia (31-20)
Gainesville Regional winner will play Durham Regional winner in the Super Regionals
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)
NCAA softball tournament last four in
According to the NCAA softball tournament selection committee, the final four teams to make the 64-team bracket were Washington, Indiana, Georgia Tech and Northwestern. Three of the four teams are from the Big Ten.
NCAA tournament selection committee chair explains bracket decisions
Following the reveal of the 64-team bracket, NCAA softball tournament selection committee chair Kurt McGuffin, the athletic director at Tennessee-Martin, joined the ESPN broadcast to answer questions about some of the committee’s biggest decisions, including making Texas A&M the No. 1 overall seed.
Texas A&M is top overall seed in 2025 NCAA softball tournament
The Aggies, the No. 1 team in the latest USA Softball poll, is the No. 1 overall seed for the 2025 NCAA softball tournament.
NCAA softball tournament format
The NCAA softball tournament works slightly differently than the NCAA basketball brackets millions of people are familiar with filling out every March.
Rather than a single-elimination tournament, the 64-team bracket is first divided into 16 four-team pods called regionals, where the highest seed of the quartet serves as the host. The 16 regional hosts are determined by the NCAA selection committee. Each regional is a double-elimination tournament between the four teams, with the final squad standing advancing to the super regional round, where it will take on another regional champion, with the better seed of those two hosting. In the super regional round, two teams take part in a best-of-three series.
The winner of each of the eight super regionals moves on to the Women’s College World Series, where another double-elimination tournament commences. Once only two teams remain that have suffered one or fewer losses, there’s a best-of-three championship series to determine the NCAA champion.
When do NCAA softball regionals start?
The regional round of the 2025 NCAA softball tournament will begin on Friday, May 16, and continue 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
NCAA softball automatic bids
Here’s a look at which teams have earned automatic bids to the 2025 NCAA softball tournament by virtue of winning their conference tournaments:
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
What time is the NCAA softball selection show?
- Date: Sunday, May 11
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
The 2025 NCAA softball tournament selection show is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Watch the 2025 NCAA softball tournament selection show live with Fubo (free trial)
What TV channel is the NCAA softball selection show on?
- TV channel: ESPN2
- Live stream: ESPN app | ESPN+ | Fubo (free trial)
The 2025 NCAA softball tournament selection show will air Sunday on ESPN2.
Streaming options for the show include the ESPN app — via a cable login — and Fubo, the last of which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.
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