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The 10 most intriguing College Softball Super Regional pairings

Screenshot 2024-07-31 at 7.46.34 PMby: Brady Vernon05/14/25BradyVernon
Screenshot 2025-05-13 at 6.15.32 PM
Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

The Field of 64 is set for the 2025 Division I College Softball Tournament. What are the most intriguing possible Super Regional matchups now that we know the bracket?

1. No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 12 Texas Tech

Florida State’s lineup against NiJaree Canady? Sign us up! The Noles ranked fifth nationally in scoring this season, averaging 7.73 runs per game this season. They will be without Kennedy Harp, who will miss the postseason due to injury, but still have five other players with 40-plus RBIs, including Isa Torres, Michaela Edenfield and Jaysoni Beachum. Meanwhile, Canady led the country with a 0.81 ERA. Will Canady make it to her third Women’s College World Series or will Florida State continue its every-other-year streak?

2. No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 15 Alabama

Earlier this season, we saw Alabama take the series against Oklahoma via an Audrey Vandagriff walk-off home run in the rubber match. The Tide could’ve truthfully swept the Sooners that weekend, but the biggest difference in this series will be Alabama having to deal with a hostile environment. How much could that change things?

3. No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 13 Arizona

Arkansas has played like the team that gets to the Women’s College World Series. However, the Razorbacks will have to break through against a team that has given them plenty of postseason trouble recently. Arizona won the Fayetteville Regional last year and a Super Regional at Bogle Park in 2021. Bri Ellis can leave the program as an even bigger legend if she can help Arkansas to Oklahoma City.

4. No. 7 Tennessee vs. No. 10 LSU

It’s like LSU’s SEC gauntlet to end the regular season keeps going. If the Tigers win the Baton Rouge regional (and the Lady Vols in the Knoxville), they’ll have played the top six teams in the SEC standings. For what it’s worth, LSU did beat Karlyn Pickens last season and statistically has a better offense this season. Pickens and the Tennessee staff had the best team ERA in SEC play (3.80).

5. No. 8 South Carolina vs. No. 9 UCLA

South Carolina got the nod for the last Top-Eight seed because of an abundance of quad-one wins. That’s a big testament to what Ashley Chastain Woodard has done in her first season leading her alma mater. Nevertheless, these teams are quite similar in how they are built. Each uses a committee of three pitchers but South Carolina relies on Sam Gress the most, while Taylor Tinsley, Kaitlyn Terry and Addisen Fisher have all performed well throughout the season.

6. No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Clemson

These two teams come into the postseason playing very differently. After a slow start, the young Clemson Tigers roared through the second half of the season and won the ACC Tournament. They’ve knocked off other Top-Eight seeds Florida State, Tennessee and South Carolina the past month. Meanwhile, Texas has had its share of issues both at the plate and in the circle since dropping the series to Tennessee in the middle of April. Will Texas feel the pressure while Clemson plays free?

7. No. 1 Texas A&M vs. No. 16 Oregon

This wouldn’t be your typical No. 1 versus No. 16 matchup. Oregon has been a consensus Top-10 team at different points this season. The Ducks have a speedy lineup with their freshmen Rylee McCoy and Stefini Ma’ake. The Aggies have been one of the consistent teams this season. The biggest factor might be the teams’ aces; Texas A&M’s Emiley Kennedy and Oregon’s Lyndsey Grein are trending different ways as the Aggies’ lefty is heating up.

8. No. 3 Florida vs. No. 14 Duke

These two teams split their matchups back in February as both teams had a blowout victory. However, both Florida’s Keagan Rothrock and Duke’s Cassidy Curd are pitching at a much lower level right now, with each ace working through struggles. Florida’s offense can still carry them to Oklahoma City, but Dani Drogemuller has pitched better in the second half of the season for the Blue Devils.

9. No. 7 Tennessee vs. Nebraska

We saw this matchup opening week in Clearwater as Jordy Bahl flexed her superstar muscles, holding down the Lady Vols’ bats and hitting a home run off of Karlyn Pickens. The pitching matchup itself would be fun between the two, but it’d also allow Bahl to possibly reach the Women’s College World Series for the third time in her career and Nebraska’s first appearance since 2013.

10. No. 2 Oklahoma vs. Virginia Tech

We all know Love’s Field can be a home run derby. What if the Sooners, which rank fourth in the country in home runs, hosted the nation’s home run leader, Cori McMillan and the Hokies, which have hit the third most long balls this season? Plus, we’d likely get the battle of two AUSL draftees in the first overall pick Sam Landry and Emma Lemley, at some point during the Super Regional.

More from Softball America:

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