The Women’s College World Series doesn’t start for another two weeks, but the path to get there has officially been mapped out.
On Sunday night, the 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament bracket was revealed, with 64 teams taking one step closer to their championship dreams.
MORE:Watch the Road to Women’s College World Series Bracket Reveal Live with Fubo (Free Trial)
As has been the case every year in the event’s modern history, the bracket features 16 seeded teams, each of which will host the opening set of games. Texas took first place overall, with longtime rival Oklahoma, who defeated the Longhorns on Saturday in the Big 12 championship game, coming in second place overall. The remaining eight top 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 managed to make the NCAA tournament field.
Once the tournament begins, Oklahoma will look to win its fourth straight title and sixth in the last 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 schedule, as well as updates from a busy Selection Sunday:
NCAA Softball Tournament Bracket Live Updates
All Central times. This section will be updated as the bracket is released
6:50 pm: McGuffin said the strength of Duke’s non-conference schedule hurt him, noting that was the reason the Blue Devils came in lower than some might have expected with the 10th overall seed.
6:48 pm: Softball tournament committee chairman Kurt McGuffin cited Texas’ 16 top-25 wins and its non-conference schedule in explaining why the Longhorns earned first place overall.
6:43 pm: It is notable that each of the SEC’s 13 softball teams entered the 64-team field while also representing eight of the top 16 seeds. It just means more, or so I heard. And this league will only get stronger next season, with the arrival of Oklahoma and Texas.
6:41 pm: The bottom four, according to the ESPN broadcast: Indiana, Ole Miss, Penn State and UCF. The first four to leave? BYU, Louisville, Texas Tech and Wichita State.
6:38 pm: The final national ranking goes to Texas A&M, which will be ranked No. 16 overall and the SEC’s eighth top-16 team. The Aggies will face Albany in their first game. Penn State and Texas State will be in the other regional matchup.
6:36 pm: 15th place goes to Florida State, which will face Chattanooga in its first game. UCF and Auburn will be in Tallahassee’s other regional game.
6:34 pm: Alabama ranks 14th overall. The Crimson Tide will play USC Upstate, while Southeastern Louisiana and Clemson will meet in the other game in Tuscaloosa.
6:32 pm: Louisiana is ranked 13th, the first host of a conference outside the Power Five. He will face Princeton in his first game. Ole Miss and Baylor will also make a trip to Lafayette, Louisiana, for the regional.
6:30 pm: Yet another SEC team with a top-16 ranking, with Arkansas earning the No. 12 spot. The Razorbacks will play Southeast Missouri State, while Villanova and eight-time national champion Arizona will face off in the other regional game.
6:29 pm: No. 11 overall is Georgia, which will play UNC Wilmington in its first game. Liberty and Charlotte will also head to Athens, Georgia.
6:27 pm: We have our first (current) ACC team, with Duke earning the 10th overall seed. The Blue Devils will play Morgan State on Friday in Durham, North Carolina. Utah and South Carolina will also be there.
6:25 pm: Moving past the top eight, LSU gets the 9th overall seed and will face another group of Tigers, Jackson State. Southern Illinois and Cal will also go to Baton Rouge.
6:17 pm: The final host? No. 8 Stanford, which will play Saint Mary’s, another Bay Area school, on Friday night. Cal State Fullerton and Mississippi State round out the Stanford regional.
6:15 pm: Missouri will be the seventh seed, becoming the third current SEC team to host a regional. That number will obviously increase next season. The Tigers will play Omaha in their first game. Indiana and Washington are also in the region. Some future Big Ten rivals.
6:13 pm: Sixth place goes to UCLA, one of the sport’s historic powers. The Bruins are 37-10 this season. They will face the Grand Canyon to open. San Diego State, which is close to home, will face Virginia Tech in the other game.
6:12 pm: Oklahoma State is in fifth place. A little lower than some might expect. It will face Northern Colorado on Friday. Michigan and Kentucky will also go to Stillwater. It seems like a difficult region in general.
6:10 pm: Florida is the fourth seed. The Gators will face Florida Gulf Coast on Friday. Florida Atlantic and South Alabama are the other clashes in the region. It should be a relatively quick journey for the other teams in that region besides the host.
6:08 pm: Tennessee takes third place. The Vols’ region includes Dayton, which they will face on Friday, as well as Miami (Ohio) and Virginia.
6:07 p.m.: Oklahoma, the three-time defending national champion, takes second place overall. The Sooners will face Cleveland State in the first round on Friday. Boston University and Oregon are also in the Normandy region.
6:05 pm: A little surprise at the beginning, with Texas taking first place overall. The Longhorns were the No. 1 team in the country to enter the Big 12 tournament, but lost to Oklahoma in the conference title game. They will play against Siena. Saint Francis (Pa.) and Northwestern are also in the region.
2024 NCAA Softball Regional Sites
Here’s a look at the 16 locations in the regional portion of the bracket, along with each school that will host:
This section will be updated as regionals are released
- #1 Texas (Austin, Texas)
- #2 Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma)
- #3 Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee)
- #4 Florida (Gainesville, Florida)
- #5 Oklahoma State (Stillwater, Oklahoma)
- #6 UCLA (Los Angeles)
- #7 Missouri (Columbia, Missouri)
- #8 Stanford (Palo Alto, California)
- #9 LSU (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
- #10 Duke (Durham, North Carolina)
- #11 Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
- #12 Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas)
- #13 Louisiana (Lafayette, Louisiana)
- #14 Alabama (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
- #15 Florida State (Tallahassee, Florida)
- #16 Texas A&M (College Station, Texas)
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2024 NCAA Softball Tournament Bracket
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 group moving on to the super regionals. In each region, play begins with the #1 seed facing the #4 seed, while the #2 seed and #3 seed are pitted against each other.
In super regionals, two teams, each advancing by winning their region, play a best-of-three series, with the winner moving on to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.
Here’s a look at which teams are in each region:
Austin Region
- Texas (1)
- Northwest
- San Francisco (Pa.)
- Siena
Norman Regional
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon
- Boston University
- Cleveland State
Knoxville Region
- Tennessee (3)
- Miami (Ohio)
- Virginia
- Dayton
Gainesville Regional
- Florida (4)
- Atlantic Florida
- South Alabama
- Florida Gulf Coast
Stillwater Regional
- Oklahoma State (5)
- Michigan
- Kentucky
- Northern Colorado
Los Angeles Region
- UCLA (6)
- San Diego State
- Virginia Technology
- Grand Canyon
Colombia Regional
- Missouri (7)
- washington
- Indiana
- Omaha
Palo Alto Regional
- Stanford (8)
- State of Mississippi
- Cal State Fullerton
- Santa Maria
Baton Rouge Region
- LSU (9)
- Lime
- Southern Illinois
- Jackson State
Durham Region
- Duke (10)
- Utah
- South Carolina
- Morgan State
Athens Regional
- Georgia (11)
- Charlotte
- Freedom
- UNC Wilmington
Fayetteville Region
- Arkansas (12)
- Arizona
- New village
- Southeast Missouri State
Lafayette Region
- Louisiana (13)
- Baylor
- old lady
- Princeton
Tuscaloosa Regional
- Alabama (14)
- Clemson
- Southeast Louisiana
- USC Upstate
Tallahassee Region
- Florida State (15)
- Auburn
- UCF
- Chattanooga
Faculty Regional Station
- Texas A&M (16)
- Penn State
- State of Texas
- Albany
2024 NCAA Softball Tournament Schedule
- Start date: Thursday, May 16/Friday, May 17 (regional)
- Final date: Thursday, June 6/Friday, June 7 (WCWS Championship Series)
The 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament will begin either Thursday, May 16th or Friday, May 17th. It will continue through the first week of June, ending on Thursday, June 6 or Friday, June 7, depending on whether the WCWS championship series requires three games.
- Selection Show: Sunday, May 12th
- Regional: May 16/17 to May 19
- Super Regionals: May 23-25 or May 24-26
- Women’s Collegiate World Series: May 30 to June 6/7 in Oklahoma City
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