NCAA Softball to Seed 32 Teams in 2026 Tournament

Jun 6, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Texas Longhorns outfielder Kayden Henry (21) yells after scoring a run in the first inning against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during game three of the NCAA Softball Women's College World Series finals at Devon Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn Images | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

NCAA softball is finally changing its postseason tournament seeding format.

Just like women’s volleyball and soccer, the road to the Women’s College World Series will now seed 32 teams, according to Softball America.

These additions will not change the 16 national seeds, but will help boost the top seeds with essentially easier matchups.

In order for the NCAA to protect the 400-mile geographic proximity parameters to prevent conference matchups in Regionals when possible, the seeding will not be a straight 1-32 matchup. Instead, the seeding will use ‘buckets’.

The buckets are intended for the 1-4 national seeds to face 29-32 seeds in a certain order that still allows the NCAA Committee to use past parameters.

The Buckets

National Seeds: 1, 2, 3, 4-29, 30, 31, 32

National Seeds: 5, 6, 7, 8-25, 26, 27, 28

National Seeds: 9,10,11,12-21,22, 23, 24

National Seeds: 13,14,15,16-17,18,19, 20

For example, if three Big Ten teams are in the top four, and one Big Ten team falls in the 29-32 bucket, the Big Ten team will face the non-Big Ten host. 

In addition to the expanded seeding, the NCAA Committee is continuing to examine several issues this offseason that sparked lots of conversation among current and past coaches, players, and fans on social media.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP) recently approved the double first base bag, and made updates to video reviews, protests in games, in-game video board reviews, the use of communication devices, and clarified the obstruction call.

The committee will meet again in November to examine these Tournament issues:

• Extending practice times at both the Regional and Super Regional tournaments

• Increasing the NCAA postseason squad to 25.
  -Currently, the number of student-athletes who are eligible to play in a postseason is 22.
  -If the Committee adopts an increase, it would allow for more student-athletes to be listed on the lineup card and participate in the game. Teams that have an official NCAA roster larger than 25 would still be permitted to travel to their entire roster; however, only 25 would be eligible to participate in the competition.
  -This would not include an increased financial commitment from the NCAA.

• Continuing to explore the extension of the NCAA Regional tournament from a three-day schedule to a four-day schedule. 

To view a mock example of what a 1-32 seeding would possibly look like based on the 2025 NCAA Tournament seeding, visit Softball America.