Florida is the No. 1 overall seed in the 2016 NCAA tournament.
INDIANAPOLIS—The University of Florida, the two-time defending national champion, was named the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship today when the NCAA Division I Softball Committee announced the 64-team field. The Gators will host Alabama State University, an automatic qualifier from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Thirty-two conferences were awarded an automatic qualification, while the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will play at campus sites this weekend.
MORE: Full Bracket
Team pairings were determined by geographic proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during regional competition.
The Southeastern Conference led all leagues for the second straight year with 11 teams selected to the championship tournament. The Pac-12 Conference placed eight teams in the championship tournament, respectively. Five teams are making their first appearance in the tournament: Alabama State , Butler University, California State University, Bakersfield, University of Mississippi and Samford University.
Only 12 schools have been crowned the NCAA Division I softball champion since the tournament started in 1982, and all 12 will compete in this year’s bracket.
DATES/SITES/PAIRINGS:
*Indicates Host Institution
Gainesville Regional – May 20-22 at Gainesville, Florida
No. 1 seed Florida* (53-5) vs. Alabama St. (28-25)
Florida Atlantic (50-7) vs. UCF (36-20)
Athens Regional – May 20-22 at Athens, Georgia
Oklahoma St. (29-24) vs. Northwestern (26-26)
Maine (28-19) vs. No. 16 seed Georgia* (40-17)
Lexington Regional – May 20-22 at Lexington, Kentucky
No. 9 seed Kentucky* (43-12) vs. Butler (28-22)
Illinois (35-21) vs. Utah (32-19)
Tallahassee Regional – May 20-22 at Tallahassee, Florida
South Fla. (44-14) vs. South Carolina (36-21)
Florida A&M (27-28) vs. No. 8 seed Florida St.* (48-8)
Eugene Regional – May 20-22 at Eugene, Oregon
No. 5 seed Oregon* (44-8) vs. Fordham (39-19)
Long Beach St. (32-20) vs. Baylor (43-12)
Los Angeles Regional – May 20-22 at Los Angeles, California
Fresno St. (41-10-1) vs. Cal St. Fullerton (43-14)
Cal St. Bakersfield (16-32) vs. No. 12 seed UCLA* (35-13-1)
Knoxville Regional – May 20-22 at Knoxville, Tennessee
No. 13 seed Tennessee* (41-14) vs. Marist (45-11)
Ohio St. (33-18-1) vs. Arizona (36-19)
Auburn Regional – May 20-22 at Auburn, Alabama
Oregon St. (30-18-1) vs. USC Upstate (43-12)
Jacksonville St. (41-15) vs. No. 4 seed Auburn* (49-9)
Norman Regional – May 20-22 at Norman, Oklahoma
No. 3 seed Oklahoma * (47-7) vs. Wichita St. (35-19)
Tulsa (35-19) vs. Ole Miss (39-20)
Lafayette Regional – May 20-22 at Lafayette, Louisiana
Texas A&M (37-18) vs. Texas (37-14)
Boston U. (28-22) vs. No. 14 seed La.-Lafayette* (43-7)
Seattle Regional – May 20-22 at Seattle, Washington
No. 11 seed Washington* (36-13) vs. Weber St. (37-17)
North Dakota St. (38-13) vs. Minnesota (41-12)
Tuscaloosa Regional – May 20-22 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama
California (31-22-1) vs. Texas St. (39-20)
Samford (40-18) vs. No. 6 seed Alabama* (46-12)
Harrisonburg Regional – May 20-22 at Harrisonburg, Virginia
No. 7 seed James Madison* (46-4) vs. Princeton (23-26)
Longwood (38-18) vs. North Carolina (31-23)
Baton Rouge Regional – May 20-22 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana
McNeese St. (42-12) vs. Arizona St. (30-25)
LIU Brooklyn (30-25) vs. No. 10 seed LSU* (45-15)
Columbia Regional – May 19-21 at Columbia, Missouri
No. 15 seed Missouri* (39-14) vs. BYU (35-19)
Louisville (35-15) vs. Nebraska (33-19)
Ann Arbor Regional – May 20-22 at Ann Arbor, Michigan
Notre Dame (41-11) vs. Miami (OH) (34-21)
Valparaiso (18-32) vs. No. 2 seed Michigan* (46-5)
CHAMPIONSHIP STRUCTURE: The championship will be three weekends of competition. Four teams will participate at each of 16 campus sites in a double-elimination tournament.
The committee held selections on May 13-15. The 64-team field was selected from 295 NCAA Division I institutions sponsoring softball. Of the 64 teams, 32 teams received an automatic qualification with the remaining best 32 teams were selected on an at-large basis.
Regionals will be held May 20-22 on 16 campus sites. At each campus site, a four-team, double-elimination tournament will be conducted and the 16 winning teams advance to the Super Regionals.
Super Regionals for the championship will be held May 26-29 on eight campus sites. At each site, two teams play in a best-of-three tournament format. The winners from each site advance to the NCAA® Women’s College World Series (WCWS).
SEEDING/SITES: Teams were selected to the field of 64 teams. The top 16 teams were seeded in order, and the remaining teams are paired by geographic proximity, with the exception that teams within the same conference were not paired during regional competition.
CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: 2015 Highlights: Florida won its second straight national championship defeating the University of Michigan, 4-1.
For complete championship details log on to NCAA.com.
