The full 64-team field for the NCAA softball tournament will be revealed on Sunday.
Sixteen national seeds will be chosen, along with three other teams in each of the 16 regionals that make up the first weekend of the tournament.
Oklahoma and Texas A&M, who were set to play in the SEC tournament championship on Saturday, are the two likely top contenders for the No. 1 overall seed, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather in Athens, Georgia. Without a deciding game for the SEC championship game, determining who gets the nod could be interesting to follow.
REQUIRED READING: SEC softball championship canceled. Oklahoma-Texas A&M declared co-champions
The Sooners are looking for their unprecedented fifth consecutive national championship in 2025 and appear to be one of the top candidates to take home the national title once again.
For those new to college softball, here’s a look at how the NCAA softball tournament format works:
NCAA softball tournament format
The NCAA selects 64 teams to complete the NCAA softball tournament, with the full bracket being announced on Sunday before regionals start.
Thirty-two of the 64 teams receive automatic bids to the tournament after winning their respective conference championships, with the other 32 teams earning at-large bids.
Sixteen of the 64 teams are selected as national seeds, earning the right to host the regional round at their home field. Teams that win the regional and are a top eight seed also host the super regional round.
Each regional is a double-elimination format, with teams being seeded 1-4 at the local level. The 1 and 4 seed play in the first round of the regional, with the 2 and 3 matching up on the other side. The two winners and two losers then play each other for a spot in the regional championship, with the winner’s bracket team having to lose twice in the championship final.
The super regional is a three-game series, placing winning regional teams against the opposing seed. For example, the winner of the 1-seed regional faces the winner of the 16-seed regional and the winner of the 2-seed regional faces the 15-seed regional winner, and so forth.
WCWS format
Eight teams move onto the Women’s College World Series, which is also a double-elimination format. The semifinals place the winner’s bracket winner against the loser’s bracket winner, with the loser’s bracket team having to beat the undefeated team twice to reach the championship.
The national championship resets the double-elimination format, as the last two teams standing play a three-game series for the title.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA softball tournament format: How 2025 bracket works
