NCAA Softball Championships 2021 Bracket: Schedule, Matchups and More

The road to Oklahoma City is now clear for the teams that earned a berth in the 2021 Women's College World Series.

The NCAA unveiled the 64-team field for this year's tournament, the first since 2019 after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the spring sports season to an abrupt halt in 2020. UCLA reigned supreme two years ago, sweeping Oklahoma in the final. A rematch between the 41-4 Bruins and the 45-2 Sooners could be in store given how well they both played.

Here's the schedule for each of the three rounds in the WCWS, and the full bracket is available on NCAA.com:

 

2021 NCAA Softball Tournament Schedule

Regionals: May 21-23

Super Regionals: May 27-29; May 28-30

Women's College World Series: June 3-9

 

The action will get underway with 16 regionals.

2021 NCAA Softball Tournament Regional Sites

Norman Regional

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. Morgan State

Texas A&M vs. Wichita State

 

Los Angeles Regional

Minnesota vs. Fresno State

Long Beach State vs. No. 2 UCLA

 

Tuscaloosa Regional

No. 3 Alabama vs. Alabama State

Troy vs. Clemson

 

Gainesville Regional

Baylor vs. South Alabama

South Florida vs. No. 4 Florida

 

Stillwater Region

No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. Campbell

Boston vs. Mississippi State

 

Fayetteville Regional

Stanford vs. South Dakota State

Manhattan vs. No. 6 Arkansas

 

Baton Rouge Regional

No. 7 LSU vs. McNeese State

George Washington vs. Louisiana

 

Columbia Regional

Northern Iowa vs. Iowa State

UIC vs. No. 8 Missouri

 

Knoxville Regional

No. 9 Tennessee vs. Eastern Kentucky

James Madison vs. Liberty

 

Tallahassee Regional

Auburn vs. UCF

Kennesaw State vs. No. 10 Florida State

 

Tucson Regional

No. 11 Arizona vs. UMBC

Villanova vs. Ole Miss

 

Austin Regional

Oregon vs. Texas State

St. Francis (PA) vs. No. 12 Texas 

 

Athens Regional

No. 13 Duke vs. UNC Greensboro

Western Kentucky vs. Georgia

  

Lexington Regional

Notre Dame vs. Miami (OH)

Northwestern vs. No. 14 Kentucky

 

Tempe Regional

No. 15 Arizona State vs. Southern Illinois

BYU vs. Virginia Tech

 

Seattle Regional

Michigan vs. Seattle

Portland State vs. No. 16 Washington

 

Oklahoma suffered its second defeat of the season on May 7 to Oklahoma State. The Sooners got the last laugh as they swept their way to a Big 12 title, taking down the Cowgirls 10-2 in six innings to seal the championship.

Of the 10 mainstays in Oklahoma's lineup, six are batting better than .400. Jocelyn Alo leads the way with a .479 average, 1.120 slugging percentage and 26 home runs in 142 at-bats. Sooners pitchers, meanwhile, own a 2.24 ERA over 269.1 innings. Olivia Rains hasn't allowed a single run through 14 appearances, and Shannon Saile has four complete games and 116 strikeouts over 76 innings on the mound.

Due in part to the depth of the Pac-12, UCLA can't match the Sooners' gaudy numbers. Rachel Garcia, Briana Perez, Maya Brady and Delanie Wisz all have double-digit homers. Garcia owns a robust .496 on-base percentage and is the Bruins' best pitcher with a 0.60 ERA in 22 appearances. Between Garcia and Megan Faraimo, UCLA has a 1-2 combo (280 strikeouts) that can silence any offense in the country.

Repeat champions aren't all that uncommon in the WCWS. Since the introduction of the best-of-three format in 2005, three programs have gone back to back. Oklahoma pulled off the feat in 2017, two years after Florida celebrated a second national title in as many seasons.

The format provides a bit of a buffer for the Bruins and Sooners because one bad game doesn't necessarily mean exiting the tournament. But a lot of work is required just to reach the Women's College World Series, and then five more wins in Oklahoma City are the minimum to secure the title.

Although a UCLA vs. Oklahoma rematch isn't a fait accompli, it would be a big surprise if they aren't two of the eight teams booking a trip to ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.