NCAA Women's College World Series 2015: Softball Bracket, Schedule and Matchups

The eight teams that made it through the regionals have descended upon Oklahoma City for the 2015 Women's College World Series, setting up a wealth of exciting initial matchups that should set the tone for the week.

For the first time ever, the start of the tournament went chalk as all eight of the top national seeds made it through their regionals and into the final eight. That should only bring these teams' best play to the surface and ensure some star-studded matchups that will prove telling in who earns the national championship.

Take a look below at the early schedule and matchups for the Women's College World Series.

2015 Women's College World Series Early Schedule

Game	Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
1	Thu., May 28	Tennessee (8) vs. Florida (1)	12 p.m.	ESPN
2	Thu., May 28	LSU (5) vs. Auburn (4)	2:30 p.m.	ESPN
3	Thu., May 28	Alabama (6) vs. Michigan (3)	7 p.m.	ESPN2
4	Thu., May 28	UCLA (7) vs. Oregon (2)	9:30 p.m.	ESPN2
5	Fri., May 29	Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner	7 p.m.	ESPN2
6	Fri., May 29	Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner	9:30 p.m.	ESPN2
7	Sat., May 30	Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser	12 p.m.	ESPN
8	Sat., May 30	Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser	2:30 p.m.	ESPN
9	Sat., May 30	Game 7 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser	7 p.m.	ESPN
10	Sat., May 30	Game 8 Winner vs. Game 5 Loser	9:30 p.m.	ESPN

Bracket 

Full bracket available at NCAA.com.

Teams to Watch

Florida

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

The SEC looks bound to dominate play in Oklahoma City with a whopping five of the eight teams, but there's no secret that the hype is largely around the defending national champions.

Alas, the Florida Gators should be confident in their chances of fighting through a slew of conference foes in order to repeat their title from last season. After all, they breezed to the regular-season conference title and had to oust Kentucky just to punch their tickets to the midwest.

In a conference full of big bats, dominant pitching has led the way for the nation's top-ranked team. Florida's 1.67 team ERA is sixth-best nationally and second among the teams still left, while Lauren Haeger's 1.24 ERA is the best among pitchers in the WCWS.

Haeger also swings the bat awfully well, but the Player of the Year's lone loss of the season came against the Gators' first foe up in Oklahoma City, per Mike Strange of the Knoxville News Sentinel:

Hot pitching paved the way for Florida's national championship last season, when Hannah Rogers shut down opposing lineups en route to scoreless outings. Haeger looks poised to do the same as she takes a 29-inning scoreless streak into Oklahoma City.

UCLA

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

The SEC threatened to push its total teams from five to six before UCLA beat out Missouri in their regional final, but the nation's most prestigious softball program wasn't about to let that happen. 

Now, the Bruins enter Oklahoma City eyeing a chance to add to their 11 national championships against an opponent they know all too well.

Oregon made it to its third WCWS in four years to become the second of two Pac-12 teams in the final eight, but the bracket didn't make things easy as the two in-conference rivals will battle in their opening game in Oklahoma City, as Pac-12 Networks aptly responded to:

The chips are certainly stacked against the Bruins early on if they aspire to add championship No. 12, having to face a Ducks team that beat them twice back in April. But with the nation's best batting average of .370 and Allexis Bennett somehow hitting .514 on the season, UCLA obviously has the firepower to be able to do so.

Auburn

As is the case most years, this WCWS field is chock-full of tradition-rich programs who have been here before. But don't label the Auburn Tigers as one of those teams.

This year's advancement to the final eight marked the program's first-ever appearance in Oklahoma City, which would seem to indicate that the Tigers are just happy to be here. With most of the recent national champions relying upon experience from being in these positions before, no Auburn player will have that benefit. 

But other than that, there's no reason to believe Auburn couldn't become the postseason Cinderellas. The Tigers are used to the rigors of playing in the SEC, which will give them familiarity against a majority of the teams they face.

Their slugging percentage and home run average (both 11th nationally) should pay dividends against some of the nation's best pitching staffs. But it takes experience from these big moments to know how to get those hits in pressure-cooker situations.

If the Tigers can pull from their experience of winning the SEC tournament, they could continue hitting the cover off the ball and emerge as one of the most dangerous teams in Oklahoma City.