NCAA Softball Championships 2017: Dates, TV Schedule, Times, Bracket and More

Only eight teams remain standing in the 2017 NCAA Softball Championship as the tournament continues into its final knockout stages.

No. 1 seeded Florida Gators will be viewed as the favorite of the field to go through the Elite 8 as they take on No. 9 seeded Texas A&M, but they shouldn't sleep on the Aggies.

This game is one of four fixtures that will take place Thursday, and the winners/losers of those games will continue on to play on Friday and Saturday, depending on how well they perform.

Here's a breakdown of the tournament matchups over the next few days:

Thursday, June 1

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 9 Texas A&M, 12 p.m., ESPN

No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 13 LSU, 2:30 p.m., ESPN

No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 6 Washington, 7 p.m., ESPN2

No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 15 Baylor, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2

Friday, June 2

Game 5: 7 p.m., Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, ESPN

Game 6: 9:30 p.m. | Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, ESPN

Saturday, June 3

Game 7: 12 p.m., Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, ESPN

Game 8: 2:30 p.m., Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, ESPN

Game 9: 7 p.m., Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 6, ESPN

Game 10: 9:30 p.m., Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 5, ESPN

Live stream available on WatchESPN. 

Can anyone knock off Florida?

There isn't a Cinderella story in this year's tournament like there was in 2016, when No. 16 Georgia stunned collegiate softball with their impressive Elite 8 run. But while there isn't a "team of destiny" this time around, the Aggies will come out against the Gators with everything they've got.

And they seem ready to take the field already:

Texas A&M will need to play its game of the season against Florida and hope that the Gators don't bring their A-game. Because if they play to the best of their capabilities, there isn't a team in the nation who can hang with the Gators. 

Florida's impressive pitching staff is what drives this team. They didn't surrender a run in 38 out of 63 games. Aces Kelly Barnhill and Delanie Gourley have brought it all year long with a combined record of 45 wins to just seven losses. Barnhill had an unreal 0.36 ERA, while Gourley had an equally impressive 0.67 ERA.

Barnhill was so good this season that she was actually named USA Softball's Collegiate Player of the Year on Tuesday:

After dropping their first game to Alabama in the Super Regional by a score of 3-0, the Gators were able to come back and win consecutive games against the Crimson Tide 2-0 and 2-1. Florida may not score many runs, but they don't necessarily have to light up the scoreboards if their pitching remains consistent.

Florida's own Aleshia Ocasio seems to think that her squad can continue this momentum, too: 

The Gators are hungry for their first national championship since winning consecutive championships in 2014 and 2015. The time is now to see if the Gators can make it three titles in four years. 

All stats courtesy of NCAA.com.