Alabama Softball Earns No. 6 Seed in NCAA Tournament
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — For the third straight season, Alabama softball is a top-eight seeded team in the NCAA Tournament. Met by cheers in the team clubhouse, the Crimson Tide was announced as the No. 6 overall seed Sunday evening.
"Never ever get tired of seeing Alabama on the screen," said Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy. "To me, this is next to Christmas day and St. Patrick's Day as the best day of the year. So we're really really happy. I think they did all the work that they needed to do. We did the schedule, but they beat the teams that we needed to beat to get into the top eight."
Chattanooga (29-25), Murray State (40-16-1) and Stanford (36-19) will join the Crimson Tide in the Tuscaloosa regional. The top 16 seeds get to host in the regional round.
Alabama has won 43 straight games in Regional play dating back to 2007. The Crimson Tide has 23s posted around the clubhouse to signify the the 23 straight seasons Alabama has made the NCAA tournament.
If the Crimson Tide were to advance to the next round, it would match up with the 11-seed Tennessee. Alabama and the Lady Vols did not meet up during the regular season.
Twelve of the 13 SEC teams made the NCAA tournament with five teams being national seeds including Arkansas (No. 4), Alabama (No. 6), Tennessee (No. 11), Florida (No. 14) and Missouri (No. 15.)
Oklahoma earned the top overall seed for the third straight season.
Alabama is the only program in the country to make it to the Super Regional round in every year of its existence. This is the 17th straight season that Alabama is a national seed since seeding was formatted this way in 2005.
The Crimson Tide was a top three team for most of the season, but the team struggled down the stretch, losing five of their last eight games including the SEC Tournament opener against Missouri. However, the Crimson Tide's RPI, strength of schedule and quality wins were enough to keep the team as a top-eight seed.
Alabama is trying to make it back to the Women's College World Series for the 14th time overall and third season in a row. (There was not a WCWS in 2020 due to COVID.)
The first game of the Tuscaloosa regional will take place Friday at 3 p.m. at Rhoads Stadium between the No. 6 Crimson Tide and Chattanooga. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
"Postseason is the best season, and I think that our fans are ready to show up show out," Alabama senior pitcher Montana Fouts said.
Top 16 Seeds
1. Oklahoma
2. Florida State
3. Virginia Tech
4. Arkansas
5. UCLA
6. Alabama
7. Oklahoma State
8. Arizona State
9. Northwestern
10. Clemson
11. Tennessee
12. Duke
13. Washington
14. Florida
15. Missouri
16. UCF
Alabama Softball at the 2021 WCWS
NCAA
