NCAA Softball Tournament Field Of 64 Projection (4/26/19)

By SA Staff
on April 26, 2019

Entering a significant weekend of softball less than one month away from the NCAA Tournament, Softball America presents our initial Projected Field of 64.

Keep in mind that this Field of 64 is projecting the remainder of the season and does not necessarily reflect if the season ended today.

In our initial projection, the SEC leads the field with six teams slated as Regional hosts. The Pac-12 and Big 12 each have three Regional hosts. The ACC, Big Ten, Colonial, and Sun Belt each boast one Regional host.

Oklahoma takes the top seed in our initial projection. The Sooners are riding the nation's longest win streak at 32 games after a series sweep at Texas, who is projected as the No. 6 overall seed, and a midweek run-rule victory at Wichita State.

UCLA and Arizona check in as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively. If both teams continue to win, the Pac-12 crown and the No. 2 overall seed could come down to a series showdown in the final week of the regular season. Our third Pac-12 host, Washington, is the No. 5 seed.

In what has become the norm, a collection of SEC teams are battling for SEC Tournament positioning and a shot to host Regionals and Super Regionals. In our current projection, Alabama (4) and LSU (8) land Super Regionals spots with Tennessee (9), Florida (10), Ole Miss (11), and Kentucky (14) as Regional hosts.

Kentucky travels to Alabama and Tennessee visits Ole Miss this weekend, creating intriguing matchups that are certain to impact Regional decisions.

We selected one Big Ten Regional host – Northwestern (15) – in our initial projection. Minnesota and Michigan sit right in the mix and have opportunities to grab a Regional host spot based on late-season results.

Despite recent losses, Florida State remains as a Super Regional host at No. 7. James Madison has the No. 12 seed, while Louisiana checks in one spot back at No. 13.

Our final Regional host selection is No. 16 Oklahoma State, which plays host to Texas Tech for a three-game series this weekend. The winner of that series could solidify itself as the third Big 12 Regional host come mid-May.

Softball America will continue to update the projected field as we inch closer to the NCAA Tournament. Check back early next week for the latest version.

(Note: ^ is host, * is automatic qualifier)

PROJECTED FIELD OF 64
Norman, OK.		Stillwater, OK.
1. (1) Oklahoma^*		1. (16) Oklahoma State^
2. Missouri		2. Tulsa
3. Oregon		3. Sam Houston*
4. Marist*		4. UMass-Lowell*

Los Angeles, CA		Chicago, IL.
1. (2) UCLA^*		1. (15) Northwestern^*
2. Arkansas		2. Louisville
3. Cal State Fullerton*		3. North Dakota State*
4. Weber State*		4. Illinois-Chicago*

Tucson, AZ.		Lexington, KY.
1. (3) Arizona^*		1. (14) Kentucky^
2. Texas Tech		2. Michigan
3. UNLV		3. Notre Dame
4. BYU*		4. Miami (OH)*

Tuscaloosa, AL.		Lafayette, LA.
1. (4) Alabama^*		1. (13) Louisiana^*
2. South Florida*		2. Auburn
3. Wisconsin		3. Longwood*
4. Samford*		4. Boston University*

Seattle, WA.		Harrisonburg, VA.
1. (5) Washington^		1. (12) James Madison^*
2. South Carolina		2. Virginia Tech*
3. Boise State		3. Mississippi State
4. Seattle*		4. St. John's*

Austin, TX.		Oxford, MS.
1. (6) Texas^		1. (11) Ole Miss^
2. Arizona State		2. Stanford
3. Colorado State*		3. Western Kentucky*
4. Texas Southern*		4. Jacksonville State*

Tallahassee, FL.		Gainesville, FL
1. (7) Florida State^		1. (10) Florida^
2. Georgia		2. Minnesota
3. Ohio State		3. Liberty*
4. Florida A&M*		4. LIU-Brooklyn*

Baton Rouge, LA.		Knoxville, TN.
1. (8) LSU^		1. (9) Tennessee^
2. Drake*		2. North Carolina
3. Houston		3. Indiana
4. Harvard*		4. Fordham*