College Softball Bracketology: Selection Sunday

Published

8 months ago

May 12, 2025

Selection Sunday is here. Softball America releases its last College Softball Bracketology of the 2025 season. Watch the softball selection show at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

* = Denotes Automatic Bid

NORMAN	BLACKSBURG
1 Oklahoma* (1)	1 Virginia Tech (16)
4 Weber State*	4 Robert Morris*

2 Virginia	2 Ohio State
3 Indiana	3 Kentucky

COLLEGE STATION	TUSCALOOSA
1 Texas A&M (2)	1 Alabama (15)
4 UC Santa Barbara*	4 Jackson State*

2 Cal	2 Oregon
3 Omaha*	3 Mercer*

GAINESVILLE	DURHAM
1 Florida (3)	1 Duke (14)
4 Binghamton*	4 Howard*

2 UCF	2 Georgia
3 FAU	3 Coastal Carolina*

FAYETTEVILLE	TUCSON
1 Arkansas (4)	1 Arizona (13)
4 Saint Louis*	4 Saint Francis*

2 Oklahoma State	2 GCU*
3 Purdue	3 Michigan*

TALLAHASSEE	LUBBOCK
1 Florida State (5)	1 Texas Tech* (12)
4 Brown*	4 Miami*

2 Mississippi State	2 Ole Miss
3 USF*	3 Washington

KNOXVILLE	CLEMSON
1 Tennessee (6)	1 Clemson* (11)
4 Eastern Illinois*	4 Elon*

2 Georgia Tech	2 Auburn
3 Belmont*	3 UNF*

AUSTIN	COLUMBIA
1 Texas (7)	1 South Carolina (10)
4 Boston U.*	4 USC Upstate*

2 Nebraska	2 Liberty*
3 UConn*	3 North Carolina

LOS ANGELES	BATON ROUGE
1 UCLA (8)	1 LSU (9)
4 Santa Clara*	4 Marist*

2 San Diego State*	2 Stanford
3 Arizona State	3 SELA*

College Softball Bracketology Breakdown

Hosts by conference:

SEC: 9
ACC: 4
Big 12: 2
Big Ten: 1

Bids by conference:

SEC: 14
ACC: 9
Big Ten: 8
Big 12: 5
American: 2
Every Other Conference: 1

Last Four In:

North Carolina (40-15)
Washington (34-17)
Indiana (33-18)
Purdue (30-23)

First Four Out:

BYU (32-17)
Nevada (41-14)
Northwestern (29-18-1)
North Texas (36-21)

College Softball Bracketology Thoughts

The metrics say Texas A&M should be the No. 1 seed and certainly can be once the bracket is unveiled. However, Oklahoma has the most Top-10 RPI wins, second in quad one wins, and I simply think that the four-time defending champions are going to catch a break.
UCLA being in the top eight seeds is a change from my recent bracketology but my gut feeling is the committee avoids seven SEC Super Regional hosts and the Bruins are the best choice. They might be rewarded for challenging themselves with a tough non-conference schedule that includes wins over Arkansas and Tennessee.
Virginia Tech once again gets the last spot over Oregon. The SOS and NC-SOS metrics just crush the Ducks, considering they played 31 games against quad-four opponents. The losses to Oregon State and Michigan State are worse than the Hokies’ series loss to Pitt. While both teams have five quad-one wins, all of Oregon’s being Top-10 RPI wins, Virginia Tech has six wins against the RPI 26-28 teams (Liberty, Virginia, Cal) and that can easily be seen on the team sheet by the committee.
Full transparency, North Carolina and Washington are listed in the Last Four In but should be safely in in Sunday. Indiana feels pretty good given the RPI, quad-one wins, Top-50 and 100 wins and lack of a quad-four loss.
I really wish a team stole a bid from a Mid-Major because I don’t love the options for the final team in this projection. Now the final spot in my opinion is up to Nevada, Purdue, BYU and Northwestern. I went Purdue because in the last three years, the worst RPI to get in as an at-large bid is 45, which was where the Boilermakers were at in the latest RPI update on Saturday. The addition of a quad-one win at the Big Ten Tournament, in addition to beating Northwestern helped a not-so-great resume. I wouldn’t be shocked if any of those four teams appeared in the bracket, BYU was the one I had the toughest time not putting in because they have more Top-100 wins but the 190 NC-SOS might be the difference.

More from Softball America:

Coaching Carousel Discussion Board
2026 Recruiting Rankings
Transfer Portal Wire

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Selecting ASU Alum That Can Change NIL Outlook

Published

2 minutes ago

December 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

lnn — Dec 7, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; Stanford Cardinal alum and professional golfer Phil Mickelson on the sidelines against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

csscsc — Dec 7, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; Stanford Cardinal alum and professional golfer Phil Mickelson on the sidelines against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Who’s leaving Duke football as transfer portal opens Jan. 2

Published

57 minutes ago

December 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Duke’s Peyton Jones runs the ball during the second half of the Blue Devils’ 45-17 win over Elon on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.

Kaitlin McKeown

The News & Observer

With roster management and player retention a big part of coaches’ jobs, Duke’s Manny Diaz had some good news to share at Christmastime: Quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate are both returning for the 2026 football season.

Mensah, a redshirt sophomore this season and the ACC’s leading passer, had talked with Diaz and others about his NFL possibilities. But the former Tulane transfer decided to come back for a second year with the Blue Devils, where he again is expected to receive one of the top NIL packages in college football.

Barkate, who transferred to Duke from Harvard before last season, had 68 catches for 1,069 yards for the 2025 ACC champions, averaging 15.7 yards a grab, and scored six touchdowns.

The Blue Devils, who face Arizona State in the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, had just three players miss bowl practices, according to Diaz. One was offensive tackle Brian Parker II, who announced he would leave Duke early to enter the NFL Draft. Cornerback Chandler Rivers and defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr., also are preparing for the 2026 draft.

Duke also has another departure: running backs coach Chris Foster, who has joined the Florida staff after one year on the Diaz staff.

“The situation is always fluid, but I expect our retention rate to be very good, again,” Diaz said. Here’s a look at who the Devils will have leaving when the NCAA transfer portal opens Jan. 2:

Entering the portal

RB Peyton Jones: Became something of a forgotten man in the offense in 2025 with the emergence of Nate Sheppard and power running of transfer Anderson Castle. Played in four games after being Star Thomas’ backup in 2024 and rushing for 317 yards.

TE Vance Bolyard: The redshirt sophomore from Greensboro was used primarily on special teams in 2025. Played in 10 games in 2024.

OL Jack Small: A redshirt freshman this year, the 6-6, 300-pounder was used in just two games.

S Kenzy Paul: Redshirt junior saw little action in the secondary this season, playing in one game, the win over Clemson.

S Maliki Wright: Did not play as a freshman this past season.

CB Kyren Condoll: The California native played in one game in 2024 and again saw little action this season.

CB Vontae Floyd: Limited to three games because of injury in 2025, the sophomore played in 11 games in 2024 and was one of four true freshmen to letter for Devils.

DT Terry Simmons Jr.: The redshirt sophomore, a 6-2, 305-pounder, played nine games in 2025 as a backup defensive tackle and was at Duke for three seasons.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.

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NIL

OU lineman Danny Okoye face of NIL deal to tout life-saving Narcan

Published

2 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Dec. 26, 2025, 5:40 a.m. CT

NORMAN – For University of Oklahoma defensive lineman Danny Okoye, his current spot – as the face of a social media campaign seeking to spread awareness of a life-saving drug for those who have overdosed on opioids – was a case of fortuitous timing.

Okoye is the first of a series of OU student-athletes who will participate in an NIL (name, image and likeness) deal with the nonprofit HarborPath of Charlotte, North Carolina, to promote Narcan, the brand name under which the generic drug naloxone is distributed.

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NIL

Taylor column: Wyoming’s Wicks not using NIL as an excuse | University of Wyoming

Published

3 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

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NIL

How to make college football worse

Published

4 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Dec. 26, 2025, 5:03 a.m. ET

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn has proposed the HUSTLE Act to create tax-deferred savings accounts for college athletes’ NIL income.
The need for congressional intervention is questionable, given that other wealthy groups, like NFL players, do not receive similar legislative protection.

If the hollowness of the bowl season or the irrationality of the playoff system has you saddened by the state of college football, it could always be worse. Congress could get involved.

It’s already bad enough that NCAA apologists want Congress to grant college athletics an antitrust exemption. Now Tennessee Senator (and gubernatorial candidate) Marsha Blackburn, in a timely act of pandering, wants to give college athletes special tax-advantaged savings accounts – “for their own protection.”

Blackburn’s comically named “Helping Undergraduate Students Thrive with Long Term Earnings (HUSTLE Act) would allow certain college athletes to create tax-deferred accounts for their Name Image and Likeness (NIL) income.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m a big fan of saving and investing, especially in a tax-deferred vehicle. But the aim of this act ‒ somehow protecting young people from squandering their NIL riches ‒ raises an obvious question: Where exactly is the constitutional mandate (or even suggestion) for Congress to pass laws discouraging 19-year-old millionaires from buying expensive cars and jewelry?

If Blackburn is genuinely concerned about young, wealthy athletes squandering their money, why didn’t she start with the NFL? A widely cited 2009 Sports Illustrated article claimed that 78% of NFL players “face financial stress or bankruptcy” within two years of retirement. This figure was likely exaggerated, but a statistically sound study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 15.7% of NFL players file for bankruptcy within 12 years of retiring. Yet this hasn’t prompted any urgent Congressional push to save professional athletes from themselves.

If age is really the determining factor in financial responsibility, why is the fastest growing demographic of bankruptcy filers over 65? Why is the median age of someone filing for bankruptcy 49 and not 29?

Blackburn could, of course, propose legislation allowing college athletes to participate in the existing tax-deferred retirement accounts at their respective universities, but that would concede that the players are employees ‒ something universities want to avoid at practically all costs.

Not to be outdone by the Senate, the House of Representatives proposed the SCORE Act, which would grant NCAA institutions exemptions from antitrust laws – essentially codifying the illegal wage collusion the schools practiced for decades ‒ while also legally declaring that players are not employees of the universities that pay for their athletic services. Too many old timers simply can’t accept the end of decades of illegal (and in my opinion, immoral) athletic department business practices, so they are begging Congress to protect them.

Even if you concede the premise that 20-year-olds are incapable of making wise financial decisions and require assistance, why would Congress be the entity to turn to for financial wisdom?

David Moon, president of Moon Capital Management, may be reached atdavid@mooncap.com.

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NIL

Chiefs Stadium Deal Is Insane

Published

5 hours ago

December 26, 2025

Your Sports Nation

stl.pony said:

Feel like it’s largely being paid for by sales tax the new stadium development will generate.

Not in finance, so someone should absolutely check my math/analysis on this.

State of Kansas has an 8.25% sales tax. For the sales tax to generate 3 billion, the total sales would need to be about 36 billion. According to this article the Royals stadium and Arrowhead stadium collectively generate 55 million a year in tax revenue. (Don’t know what the analysis is to produce that; admit it could be wrong.) If you round it up to 60 million a year, the break even point is 600+ years.

If you take the numbers the Chiefs put out, 1 billion in economic impact for the region and 29 million in tax revenue per year. The break even point from tax revenue would be 1800 years?

I don’t know what is considered the region for the economic impact evaluation and how that changes based on if the stadium is on the Missouri side or the Kansas side of Kansas City. I also remember reading a report about the state fair of Texas that claimed that events like the state fair and sporting events don’t necessarily generate additional economic activity in a region, it just concentrates it into the event rather the wider community. (Admittedly, that could mean more tax revenue for one city in the region over another.) In my layperson’s opinion, a sports stadium deal like this doesn’t seem to be as smart of a decision as offering economic incentives to a Toyota or other non-entertainment business to move to your city.

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