The 2024 college softball bracket has been released and we have our 64 teams looking for a trip to OKC and a national title.
I somewhat filled out a bracket, but I didn’t go game-by-game because of double eliminations. But, I made some general picks for regional winners, super regional winners, a.k.a. the eight teams headed to OKC, and then my national champ pick.
Starting with the top left port of the bracket, I have the top-seeded Texas Longhorns coming out of their regional and facing Texas A&M.
Then I have LSU and Stanford facing off at Stanford. That's one of my favorite super-regional matchups.
I think Oklahoma State has one of the toughest regionals with Michigan and Kentucky, but I'm still going with the Cowgirls mostly because of Lexi Kilfoyl in the circle. I have them facing Arkansas in the supers.
I went for a slight upset pick with Baylor making it out of Louisiana's regional. This one felt up in the air for me and I liked Baylor's strength of schedule this season. They have a lot more losses than some top teams, but they faced some tough teams this year. Plus, Baylor already took two of three from Louisiana this season, so it’s a fun rematch.
I have Florida making it out of its regional in what I think is one of the easiest paths to OKC. In my opinion, the Gators got that favorable seeding after winning the SEC tournament. They're hot right now at the right time. I mean, Skyler Wallace has been one of the best players in the country for years and she's just now starting to go off at the plate had nine RBIs in the SEC tournament and Jocelyn Erickson was the SEC Player of the Year, and the pitching is there.
I have Oklahoma making it out of their regional, though I am excited to see Kasey Ricard at Boston University facing that Sooner lineup. They will be facing Florida State in the supers in my bracket. What a fun national championship rematch from a few years ago.
And I have Duke getting out of its regional. The Blue Devils got the 10 seed — lower than a lot of people expected — but I do like their path to the Women's College World Series.
I went for another upset for the Columbia Regional. Missouri is incredibly good... Don't get me wrong, I think the Tigers are outstanding and have absolutely deserved a top-eight seed in the tournament and Washington hasn't had the best end to their season, but they could bounce back in the tournament and make an upset here with Ruby Meylan. I'm going with the Huskies.
UCLA has another one of the toughest regionals in the country, but I'm still picking the Bruins to make it out hot to end the season. Sharlize Palacios has turned it on and Kaitlyn Terry and Taylor Tinsley have evolved into a top-notch staff. I have them facing Georgia in the Supers for another one of my favorite potential matchups.
And then finally, I've got one more upset Clemson over Alabama to make it out of that regional. Bama was one that I wasn't totally sold on hosting and though Clemson has struggled a lot this year, they still have Valerie Cagle, so I went for a fun pick there. I have them facing Tennessee and the Supers. I think the pitching gets the Vols out of that regional.
After that, I have my eight picks for OKC to make it out of their super regionals:
- Texas
- Stanford
- Oklahoma State
- Florida
- Oklahoma
- Duke
- UCLA
- Tennessee
For the record, I was most torn between Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas and UCLA vs. Georgia.
And finally my championship pick, I realistically think Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee could all win it. As much as I think a four-peat for OU is possible and very well could happen, I found myself choosing between Texas and Tennessee over and over again.
But I'm going with the Longhorns, who beat the Sooners this season, but just lost to them in the Big 12 Championship game. Texas is going to come into this tournament wanting vengeance. The Longhorns have some of the hottest hitters in the country with Reese Atwood leading the way and strong arms in the circle.
