OKLAHOMA CITY — Texas A&M earned the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I softball tournament on Sunday, edging four-time defending national champion Oklahoma for the top spot and leading seven Southeastern Conference teams seeded in the top eight.
Oklahoma won the SEC regular-season title by a game over Texas A&M in its first season in the conference. Texas A&M and Oklahoma tied for the conference tournament title after the championship game was canceled because of bad weather.
No. 3 seed Florida, a national semifinalist last season, and No. 4-seeded Arkansas also represent the SEC. Oklahoma State, which has made five consecutive Women’s College World Series appearances, is in the regional with Arkansas.
The final eight teams in the 64-team field will play in the WCWS from May 29 to June 5 in Oklahoma City.
No. 5 seed Florida State, the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season champion, is the top-seeded team from outside the SEC. The Seminoles won the national title in 2018 and were runners-up in 2021 and 2023.
Florida State is followed by three more SEC teams. Texas, the national runner-up two of the past three seasons, is the No. 6 seed. Tennessee, with hard-throwing Karlyn Pickens, is the No. 7 seed. South Carolina is the No. 8 seed after being picked 15th out of 15 teams in the preseason SEC poll.
No. 9 seed UCLA hosts a regional in its first season as a Big Ten member.
No. 10-seeded LSU could be challenged. Nebraska, led by former Oklahoma pitcher Jordyn Bahl, also will be in the Baton Rouge Regional. Bahl was the Most Outstanding Player of the World Series in 2023.
Clemson, the ACC tournament champion after knocking off Florida State in the title game, is the No. 11 seed.
No. 12 seed Texas Tech, the Big 12 regular-season and tournament champion, features reigning National Fastpitch Coaches Association Player of the Year NiJaree Canady. She did not allow a run in 16⅔ innings at the Big 12 Tournament and was named its Most Outstanding Player.
Arizona, which lost to Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game, earned the No. 13 seed.
Duke reached the WCWS for the first time last season, and it will host a regional this year as the No. 14 seed.
Another SEC team, Alabama, is the No. 15 seed.
Oregon, the Big Ten regular-season champion, is seeded 16th.
