NCAA Softball Championship 2016 Bracket: Schedule, Matchups and More
There is one overarching question hanging over the 2016 NCAA Softball Championship: Can anyone beat the Florida Gators?
Florida earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2016 tournament when the NCAA announced the 64-team field Sunday. The Gators are the two-time defending national champions and finished an incredible 53-5 during the season.
The road to the championship will likely go through the SEC powerhouse, and the rest of the field learned its road map Sunday. With that in mind, here is all the essential information as the Gators go for a three-peat.
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Bracket
NCAA Softball shared the bracket:
Schedule and Formatting Information
NCAA.com provided a full rundown of the schedule and an explanation of how the NCAA tournament works.
Like March Madness in college basketball, there are 64 teams in the field. However, it is not a single-elimination event and instead features 16 four-team regionals.
The top 16 teams in the tournament were seeded nationally and receive the advantage of playing at their campus sites in the early going. Those opening regionals will take place from May 20 to May 22 and are formatted as double-elimination mini-tournaments, with the 16 winners advancing to the Super Regionals.
The Super Regionals are from May 26 to May 29 on eight different campuses, where teams will play a best-of-three series. After those series, there will be only eight teams remaining, and those are the squads that advance to the NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
The WCWS will take place from June 2 to June 8 and feature a double-elimination bracket with a loser’s bracket and then a best-of-three championship series when there are only two teams standing.
Here is a look at the broadcast schedule for the WCWS, per NCAA.com:
| Thursday, June 2 | Session 1 | Game 1 | Noon (ET) | ESPN |
| Thursday, June 2 | Session 1 | Game 2 | 2:30 p.m. (ET) | ESPN |
| Thursday, June 2 | Session 2 | Game 3 | 7 p.m. (ET) | ESPN2 |
| Thursday, June 2 | Session 2 | Game 4 | 9:30 p.m. (ET) | ESPN2 |
| Friday, June 3 | Session 3 | Game 5 | 7 p.m. (ET) | ESPN2 |
| Friday, June 3 | Session 3 | Game 6 | 9:30 p.m. (ET) | ESPN2 |
| Saturday, June 4 | Session 4 | Game 7 | Noon (ET) | ESPN |
| Saturday, June 4 | Session 4 | Game 8 | 2:30 p.m. (ET) | ESPN |
| Saturday, June 4 | Session 5 | Game 9 | 7 p.m. (ET) | ESPN2 |
| Saturday, June 4 | Session 5 | Game 10 | 9:30 p.m. (ET) | ESPN2 |
| Sunday, June 5 | Session 6 | Game 11 | 1 p.m. (ET) | ESPN |
| Sunday, June 5 | Session 6 | Game 12 | 3:30 p.m. (ET) | ESPN2 |
| Sunday, June 5 | Session 7 (if necessary) | Game 13 (if necessary) | 7 p.m. (ET) | ESPN2 |
| Sunday, June 5 | Session 7 (if necessary) | Game 14 (if necessary) | 9:30 p.m.(ET) | ESPN2 |
| Monday, June 6 | Session 8 | Championship Series Game 1 | 8 p.m. (ET) | ESPN |
| Tuesday, June 7 | Session 9 | Championship Series Game 2 | 8 p.m. (ET) | ESPN |
| Wednesday, June 8 | Session 10 (if necessary) | Championship Series Game 3 (if necessary) | 7 p.m. (ET) | ESPN |
Regional Matchups
NCAA.com also provided a look at the 16 regionals:
| Gainesville Regional | May 20-22 | No. 1 Florida (53-5)* | Alabama State (28-25) | Florida Atlantic (50-7) | Central Florida (36-20) |
| Athens Regional | May 20-22 | No. 16 Georgia (40-17)* | Oklahoma State (29-24) | Northwestern (26-26) | Maine (28-19) |
| Lexington Regional | May 20-22 | No. 9 Kentucky (43-12)* | Butler (28-22) | Illinois (35-21) | Utah (32-19) |
| Tallahassee Regional | May 20-22 | No. 8 Florida State (48-8)* | South Florida (44-14) | South Carolina (36-21) | Florida A&M (27-28) |
| Eugene Regional | May 20-22 | No. 5 Oregon (44-8)* | Fordham (39-19) | Long Beach State (32-20) | Baylor (43-12) |
| Los Angeles Regional | May 20-22 | No. 12 UCLA (35-13-1)* | Fresno State (41-10-1) | Cal State Fullerton (43-14) | Cal State Bakersfield (16-32) |
| Knoxville Regional | May 20-22 | No. 13 Tennessee (41-14)* | Marist (45-11) | Ohio State (33-18-1) | Arizona (36-19) |
| Auburn Regional | May 20-22 | No. 4 Auburn (49-9)* | Oregon State (30-18-1) | USC Upstate (43-12) | Jacksonville State (41-15) |
| Norman Regional | May 20-22 | No. 3 Oklahoma (47-7)* | Wichita State (35-19) | Tulsa (35-19) | Ole Miss (39-20) |
| Lafayette Regional | May 20-22 | No. 14 Louisiana Lafayette (43-7)* | Texas A&M (37-18) | Texas (37-14) | Boston U. (28-22) |
| Seattle Regional | May 20-22 | No. 11 Washington (36-13)* | Weber State (37-17) | North Dakota State (38-13) | Minnesota (41-12) |
| Tuscaloosa Regional | May 20-22 | No. 6 Alabama (46-12)* | California (31-22-1) | Texas State (39-20) | Samford (40-18) |
| Harrisonburg Regional | May 20-22 | No. 7 James Madison (46-4)* | Princeton (23-26) | Longwood (38-18) | North Carolina (31-23) |
| Baton Rouge Regional | May 20-22 | No. 10 LSU (45-15)* | McNeese State (42-12) | Arizona State (30-25) | LIU Brooklyn (30-25) |
| Columbia Regional | May 20-22 | No. 15 Missouri (39-14)* | BYU (35-19) | Louisville (35-15) | Nebraska (33-19) |
| Ann Arbor Regional | May 20-22 | No. 2 Michigan (46-5)* | Notre Dame (41-11) | Miami (OH) (34-21) | Valparaiso (18-32) |
Championship Pick
It may seem boring at this point, but there is no reason to pick against the Gators.
In a testament to Florida’s dominance, the two-time defending champions earned the No. 1 overall seed for the fourth time in the last eight years (2008, 2009, 2015 and 2016). The team’s official website noted no other program has received the No. 1 overall seed more than once in the NCAA Super Regional era.
Head coach Tim Walton has built a dynasty, and the Gators are 27-6 in regional play and 54-20 in the NCAA tournament since he arrived before the 2006 campaign. He is a proven winner who has guided Florida through some of the most pressure-packed moments of the last decade.
There is reason for concern, since the Gators are coming off a 2-1 loss to Auburn in the SEC tournament, but they fell to Tennessee in the semifinals of the conference tournament last year and bounced back with a national title. The formula for parlaying an SEC tournament loss into a championship is already in place, and this Florida squad is intricately familiar with it.
This year’s team is also battle-tested from a 20-4 run in a strong SEC that sent a national-best 11 teams to the NCAA tournament. The Gators also beat No. 2-seeded Michigan in nonconference play, 8-0, and will not be intimidated by any opponent in the 2016 field.
Graham Hays of espnW.com noted the Gators’ pitching could help them emerge with a third consecutive championship:
"This is not to say Florida's lineup is a liability, not when it ranks eighth nationally in on-base percentage. But it, too, will let pitching lead the way, not with one ace but three with All-American numbers: Kelly Barnhill, Delanie Gourley and Aleshia Ocasio. A season ago, Florida used a rotation to get to May but turned things over to Lauren Haeger in the postseason. The Gators made only one in-game pitching change in the entire NCAA tournament. That isn't likely to be the case this season. Versatility of arms is one of their greatest strengths.
"
It won’t take much run support to notch enough wins for a title. Even among her talented teammates, Aleshia Ocasio stands out with a 20-1 record and sparkling 0.70 ERA.
All the pressure won’t fall on her shoulders, but it is a luxury for the Gators to know she can come through in the most important moments and help them stave off elimination.
Florida has a program that understands how to win at this time of year, a strong resume that features a loaded SEC slate and a dominant win over Michigan—which it also beat in last year’s national championship series—and an overpowering pitching staff that isn’t overly reliant on one arm.
The rest of the field won’t be able to match up.
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