Selection Sunday is HERE. In just a few short hours, we will learn who the Selection Committee chose and who will play where for the Regional round. We know for the first time who all of the Automatic Qualifiers are in the field, and for these final predictions, we went back to square one. Look for new seedings, team placements, and some significant changes to the Bubble. Speaking of the Bubble, be sure to check out Bubble Watch for updates from this past week to see how some teams have assembled their case for an at-large bid.
Author: EricLopezELO
Several conference tournaments are already in action and more than two dozen will take place throughout the course of this week. All of the results lead up to Selection Sunday, when the full NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced. This week, we’ve changed up some things in the Bracketology world. Below, you’ll find the usual in-depth analysis and breakdown of our projected bracket. If you’re not a paid JWOS subscriber, however, this week only, we have published our projected regionals in a free article that can be found here. Also, beginning on Wednesday, look for our Bubble Watch updates that…
The 20 potential hosting sites have officially been announced, and the general consensus is that there was much ado about nothing. Expectations were met with the group of programs that were selected for the top 20, and just a couple of weeks remain before that group is siphoned down to the sixteen actual Regional hosts. There’s also some movement on the Bubble this week, with some teams on a bit of shakier footing than in weeks past and other teams making their inaugural appearances on the bubble in 2021.
We are in the home stretch of the 2021 softball season. Division II has already named its postseason host sites, and a similar announcement from Division I is expected next week. This is the second time this year that we’ve projected a full field of 64, including full regional projections. You’ll notice some changes from the 4.0 edition, including in some of the at-large and “on the bubble” positions. It’s important to note that Regional hosting sites will be selected and announced three weeks before the NCAA tournament bracket is unveiled, but a team could host a regional without being…
As the 2021 softball season nears its stretch run, we’re upping the ante on Bracketology – for the first time this year, we’ve projected not just a full field of 64, but where each team might wind up and who might be hosting! It’s important to note that Regional hosting sites will be selected and announced three weeks before the NCAA tournament bracket is unveiled, but a team could host a regional without being the #1 seed and a #1 seed could play in a regional that they do not host. Geography is often a big piece of the puzzle…
It’s tournament time for basketball fans, and of course that has us thinking about the NCAA softball tournament! March Madness will soon lead to May Madness and postseason on the diamond. The first RPI rankings of 2021 were also publicly revealed on Tuesday, and those rankings are a big indicator toward what the postseason might look like, especially for teams on the hunt for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
Friday night’s ESPN2 telecast between Texas and LSU drew 124,000 viewers, according to ShowBuzzDaily.com The game battled rain delays and did not finish on television (there was an overnight delay in the middle of the 7th inning), which certainly affected the numbers. This is the first primetime Friday night game of the year on ESPN or ESPN2, and the first time in a long while that the first regular-season softball game has aired in early March, so it is hard to compare to past years. In each of the last two seasons, softball’s first nationally-televised game on either ESPN or…
As she continues to prepare for the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Cat Osterman will also be broadcasting games on television during this college softball season. Osterman will broadcast a select number of Texas State home games, including games in Sun Belt conference play that will be broadcast on ESPN+. The debut game of Osterman’s ESPN+ slate is set for today, Monday, at 12 pm local time. Texas State will host Abilene Christian in a doubleheader, and Osterman will be the color commentator and analyst for the first game of the day. She will work alongside play-by-play man Brant Freeman. “I…
Big news: Softball’s longest-tenured bracketologist is joining JWOS! Eric Lopez, who is best known as the host of the In the Circle podcast and as a veteran play-by-play broadcaster, will be our resident Bracketologist for 2021. As crazy as things are, softball season is upon us and we’re ready to go! Eric put his expertise to work and came up with a full field of 64 – all before the first pitch is thrown! This is Preseason Bracketology!