2022 NCAA Softball Championship

SITES/PAIRINGS (*Indicates Host Institution)

Norman Regional:

No. 1 seed Oklahoma* (49-2) vs. Prairie View A&M (20-28)

Texas A&M (29-26) vs. Minnesota (26-24-1)

(My thoughts: Looks like a pretty easy regional for Oklahoma.)

Tallahassee Regional:

No. 2 seed Florida St.* (52-5) vs. Howard (31-22)

Mississippi State (33-24) vs. South Florida (44-14)

(My thoughts: Florida State has been there before and looking to bring the championship back to Tallahassee. I don’t see anyone stoping them in this regional on that mission.)

Blacksburg Regional:

No. 3 seed Virginia Tech* (41-7) vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) (37-16)

Kentucky (35-17) vs. Miami (OH) (39-15-1)

(My thoughts: Virginia Tech has strong pitching and lots of speed on the bases. Kentucky can hit the cover off of the ball. And for those of you unfamiliar with Saint Francis (Pa.) they play not far from my location and they have a solid team that can put a scare into any team they play. Since their playing at home I’m going to pick Virginia Tech to win and move on.)

Fayetteville Regional:

No. 4 seed Arkansas* (44-9) vs. Princeton (27-15-2)

Oregon (31-17) vs. Wichita State (33-16)

(My thoughts: Look for Arkansas to come out of this regional on their way to a deep run in the tournament.)

Los Angeles Regional:

No. 5 seed UCLA* (43-8) vs. Grand Canyon (38-14)

Ole Miss (39-17) vs. Loyola Marymount University (36-15)

(My thoughts: Look for UCLA with their pitching to win this regional and advance.)

Tuscaloosa Regional:

No. 6 seed Alabama* (41-11) vs. Chattanooga (29-25)

Stanford (36-19) vs. Murray State (40-16-1)

(My thoughts: Alabama went on an usual losing streak to end their season. Playing at home before their supportive fans should be enough though to help cheer them on to victory.)

Oklahoma State Regional:

7 *Oklahoma St. (41-12)

vs. Fordham (30-20)

North Texas (35-14) vs. Nebraska (40-14)

(My thoughts: I’ve only seen a few Oklahoma St. games but that was enough to think that they are gonna win this regional.)

Tempe Regional:

No. 8 seed Arizona State* (39-9) vs. Cal State Fullerton (36-20)

LSU (34-21) vs. San Diego State (37-14)

(My thoughts: Look for Arizona State and LSU to duke it out in this regional.)

Northwestern Regional:

9 *Northwestern (40-10) vs. Oakland (26-15)

McNeese (38-19) vs.
Notre Dame (39-10)

(My thoughts: Northwestern is good but look for some Irish luck to get Notre Dame the regional win and to move on.)

Clemson Regional:

No. 10 seed Clemson* (39-15) vs. UNC Wilmington (32-13)

Auburn (39-15) vs. Louisiana (45-11)

(My thoughts: Clemson has strong pitching lead by Cagle and has several players that can go long any time. All that should be enough to give them the regional win and chance to move on to the Super Regionals. Auburn is a scrappy team though that could make some noise in their games.)

Knoxville Regional:

No. 11 seed Tennessee* (39-16) vs. Campbell (37-17)

Ohio State (35-15) vs. Oregon State (33-19)

(My thoughts: I’ve seen a lot of Tennessee games this year. At times they’ve looked really good and at other times like the bad news bears. So they could be ripe for an upset but I think they’ll put on a good performance playing at home and advance in the tournament.)

Durham Regional:

No. 12 seed Duke* (41-8) vs. UMBC (31-10)

Georgia (40-16) vs. Liberty (43-16)

(My thoughts: This could be an interesting regional. I’ve seen Duke and Georgia play and both teams at times can be impressive. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Liberty too. So I have no favorite in this regional. If you really pressed me though I guess I would pick Georgia.)

Washington Regional:

13 *Washington (35-15) vs. Lehigh (30-18-1)

Weber St. (38-10) vs. Texas (38-17-1)

(My thoughts: I follow Texas games a lot. They’ve had problems finding someone to compliment Dolcini this year. And they’ve also played streaky at times so traveling to Washington and going up against Plain could be a tough one. You could tell when the announcement was mad on the selection show that the team wasn’t happy with the draw of the selection committee. I’m gonna pick Washington to win this regional since their playing at home.)

Gainesville Regional:

No. 14 seed Florida* (43-16) vs. Canisius (32-16)

Georgia Tech (37-16) vs. Wisconsin (28-19)

(My thoughts: Florida hasn’t had the dominating type of season most people expect from them. They seem to be hitting their stride at the right time so I like for them to win their regional.

Columbia Regional:

No. 15 seed Missouri* (36-20) vs. Missouri State (27-18)

Illinois (34-20) vs. Arizona (33-20)

(My thoughts: Missouri seems like a team on a mission to be this year’s champions when all the dust settles. Their pitching is solid but they live and die by good fielding and blasting the ball over the outfield walls racking up runs on the scoreboard.)

UCF Regional:

16 *UCF (46-12) vs. Villanova (32-22)
Michigan (36-16) vs. South Dakota State ( 40-11)

(My thoughts: This was the only choice putting UCF at #16 that I’ve heard any real grumbling about on the softball boards. It’s always a tough call when you get to the final one or two teams picked to be regional host. I like Michigan but think UCF is gonna prove the selection committee right and win their regional.)