INDIANAPOLIS—Oklahoma earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship today when the NCAA Division I Softball Committee announced the 64- team field and seeds for the 2022 NCAA Division I Softball Championship.
Thirty-two conferences were awarded automatic qualification as conference champions, while the remaining 32 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will host at campus sites beginning this Friday.
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 super regional advance to the NCAA® Women’s College World Series (WCWS) from June 2-9/10 at OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Grand Canyon, Murray State, North Texas and the University of North Carolina Wilmington are making their first appearance in the tournament.
This year’s championship will also see the tournament take place at four first-time hosts in Clemson, Duke, University of Central Florida and Virginia Tech.
Only 13 schools have been crowned NCAA Division I softball champion since the tournament started in 1982 and 11 of the 13 will compete in this year’s bracket looking to add another trophy to the collection.
In 2021, Oklahoma won its fifth national championship by defeating Florida State, 5-1, in the third game of the championship series. The Sooners became the first team in WCWS history to win six elimination games on the way to their third national title in the last five championships.
ESPN will provide coverage from all 16 regional sites on one of the ESPN family of networks, which was announced during the NCAA Division I Softball Selection Show. ESPN will televise every game of the Super Regionals for the 16th consecutive year, 2020 notwithstanding, since 2007. This year also marks the 23rd year that ESPN will televise every game during the WCWS dating back to 2000.
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DATES/SITES/PAIRINGS: *Indicates Host Institution
Norman Regional – May 20-22 at Norman, Oklahoma
No. 1 seed Oklahoma* (49-2) vs. Prairie View A&M (20-28)
Texas A&M (29-26) vs. Minnesota (26-24-1)
Orlando Regional – May 20-22 at Orlando, Florida
No. 16 seed UCF* (46-12) vs. Villanova (32-22)
Michigan (36-16) vs. South Dakota St. (40-11)
Evanston Regional – May 20-22 at Evanston, Illinois
No. 9 seed Northwestern* (40-10) vs. Oakland (26-15)
Notre Dame (39-10) vs. McNeese (38-19)
Tempe Regional – May 20-22 at Tempe, Arizona
No. 8 seed Arizona State* (39-9) vs. Cal State Fullerton (36-20)
LSU (34-21) vs. San Diego State (37-14)
Los Angeles Regional – May 20-22 at Los Angeles, California
No. 5 seed UCLA* (43-8) vs. Grand Canyon (38-14)
Ole Miss (39-17) vs. Loyola Marymount University (36-15)
Durham Regional – May 20-22 at Durham, North Carolina
No. 12 seed Duke* (41-8) vs. University of Maryland, Baltimore County (31-10)
Georgia (40-16) vs. Liberty (43-16)
Seattle Regional – May 20-22 at Seattle, Washington
No. 13 seed Washington* (35-15) vs. Lehigh (30-18-1)
Texas (38-17-1) vs. Weber State (38-10)
Fayetteville Regional – May 20-22 at Fayetteville, Arkansas
No. 4 seed Arkansas* (44-9) vs. Princeton (27-15-2)
Oregon (31-17) vs. Wichita State (33-16)
Blacksburg Regional – May 20-22 at Blacksburg, Virginia
No. 3 seed Virginia Tech* (41-7) vs. Saint Francis (Pennsylvania) (37-16)
Kentucky (35-17) vs. Miami (OH) (39-15-1)
Gainesville Regional – May 20-22 at Gainesville, Florida
No. 14 seed Florida* (43-16) vs. Canisius (32-16)
Georgia Tech (37-16) vs. Wisconsin (28-19)
Knoxville Regional – May 20-22 at Knoxville, Tennessee
No. 11 seed Tennessee* (39-16) vs. Campbell (37-17)
Ohio State (35-15) vs. Oregon State (33-19)
Tuscaloosa Regional – May 20-22 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama
No. 6 seed Alabama* (41-11) vs. Chattanooga (29-25)
Stanford (36-19) vs. Murray State (40-16-1)
Stillwater Regional – May 20-22 at Stillwater, Oklahoma
No. 7 seed Oklahoma State* (41-12) vs. Fordham (30-20)
Nebraska (40-14) vs. North Texas (35-14)
Clemson Regional – May 20-22 at Clemson, South Carolina
No. 10 seed Clemson* (39-15) vs. UNCW (32-13)
Auburn (39-15) vs. University of Louisiana at Lafayette (45-11)
Columbia Regional – May 20-22 at Columbia, Missouri
No. 15 seed Missouri* (32-14) vs. Missouri State (27-18)
Illinois (34-20) vs. Arizona (33-20)
Tallahassee Regional – May 20-22 at Tallahassee, Florida
No. 2 seed Florida St.* (52-5) vs. Howard (31-22)
Mississippi State (33-24) vs. South Florida (44-14)
Automatic Qualification Berths
Amercian Athletic – UCF
America East – UMBC
ACC – Florida State
ASUN – Liberty
Atlantic 10 – Fordham
Big 12 – Oklahoma State
Big East – Villanova
Big Sky – Weber State
Big South – Campbell
Big Ten – Nebraska
Big West – Cal St. Fullerton
CAA – UNCW
C-USA – North Texas
Horizon – Oakland
Ivy – Princeton
MAAC – Canisius
Mid-American – Miami (OH)
MEAC – Howard
Missouri Valley – Missouri State
Mountain West – San Diego State
Northeast – Saint Francis (PA)
Ohio Valley – Murray State
Pac-12 – Arizona State
Patriot – Lehigh
SEC – Arkansas
SoCon – Chattanooga
Southland – McNeese
SWAC – Prairie View
Summit – South Dakota State
Sun Belt – Louisiana
West Coast – LMU (CA)
WAC – Grand Canyon
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