SEC receives 6 of the top 8 seeds in NCAA softball bracket, including No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas

Audio By Carbonatix

The Southeastern Conference received six of the top eight seeds in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship when the 64-team field was revealed on Sunday, including Alabama at No. 1 and defending national champion Texas at No. 2.

In all, the SEC got 12 of its 15 teams into the field.

Regional play starts Friday, with the top 16 seeds hosting. The eight teams that get through super regionals the next week will play in the Women's College World Series, which starts May 28 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

Alabama (49-7) didn't catch a break in the seeding — the Crimson Tide could face Belmont superstar pitcher Maya Johnson in regional play. Johnson leads the nation with a 0.66 earned run average and was the No. 3 overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft.

Texas (42-10) returns pitcher Teagan Kavan, who was the Most Outstanding Player of the Women's College World Series last year and led the Longhorns to the SEC Tournament title this season. The Longhorns beat Alabama in the SEC championship game.

Oklahoma (48-8) is the No. 3 overall seed, despite losing in its opening game at the SEC Tournament. The Sooners have won four of the past five national titles and reached the semifinals last year. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso, also the USA national coach, has won eight national championships.

Nebraska is seeded fourth. The Cornhuskers (46-6) beat UCLA to win the Big Ten tournament title on Saturday. Nebraska's Jordy Frahm led Oklahoma to a national title in 2023 as Jordy Bahl before transferring, then later getting married and changing her name.

The SEC has Arkansas (42-11) as the No. 5 seed, Florida (48-10) at No. 6 and Tennessee (42-10) at No. 7.

UCLA (47-8) is the No. 8 seed. Megan Grant just set the single-season record with 38 home runs. Jordan Woolery, who bats behind her at third in the lineup, has 107 RBIs and was the Big Ten Player of the Year.

Florida State (49-8) is No. 9 overall. The Seminoles won the national title in 2018 and were runner-up in 2021 and 2023.

Texas Tech fell all the way to No. 11 overall, despite a 52-6 record. Star pitcher NiJaree Canady led the Red Raiders to the championship series last year. She has more help this year, including pitcher Kaitlyn Terry.

The other top 16 seeds that will host include No. 10 Georgia (38-18), No. 12 Duke (39-14), No. 13 Oklahoma State (38-15), No. 14 Oregon (40-12), No. 15 Texas A&M (36-17) and No. 16 LSU (37-17).

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports