Clear your calendar and start a new bracket, because the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) is set to start. Once again, the Oklahoma Sooners are in the thick of it. All of this year’s final eight are fresh off a Super Regional victory against a worthy rival. Here’s a look at the brackets, teams and key players ready to clash in Oklahoma.
Bracket 1
Game 1 No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Texas
Game 2 No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Tennessee
Bracket 2
Game 3 No. 12 Texas Tech vs. (unseeded) Ole Miss
Game 4 No. 16 Oregon vs. No. 9 UCLA
It all starts on Thursday, May 29th.
All the games are played at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. All eight teams play on Thursday and continue to play through Monday, comprising Games 1 through 4. The subsequent games are also numbered, pairing winners facing each other, a winner against a loser, or two losers against each other. The numbers are significant because it’s determined ahead of time which game winners and losers play—they’re preset.
The WCWS has a double-elimination format, which means if a team loses twice on its way to the finals, it’s out.
You can click here to see how the bracket plays out.
Texas Longhorns vs. Florida Gators
Texas (51-11) heads back to the WCWS for the second straight year and the third time in four years. As in previous trips to the Super Regionals, Texas did it the hard way, having to win twice in a row after losing the first in a three-game series. They clinched the victory over Clemson with a 6-5 win. They’ll be looking to Reese Atwood to put runs on the board. The Texas catcher posted a .416 average with a team-leading 21 home runs and 85 RBIs. Outfielder Ashton Maloney needs just three more hits to tie the record for most in a season.
The Longhorns have never won a WCWS title, having lost in 2022 and last season to the Oklahoma Sooners. This is the eighth time the team has reached the finals.
Head coach: Mike White
Florida was facing Georgia in the Tallahassee Super Regional, and history wasn’t on their side—the Bulldogs had beaten the Gators in 2016 and ’19 in the Super Regionals. This time, the Gators took two of three, winning the clincher 5-2 to head to Oklahoma. Pitcher Keagan Rothrock pitched in all three games, had a shutout going in the final inning and wound up winning 5-2.
This will be the second straight and 13th overall appearance in the WCWS for the Gators, where they’ve won twice before, the last time in 2015.
Head coach: Tim Walton
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Tennessee Volunteers
At Oklahoma (50-7), the players’ names change, but their coach and winning tradition remain the same. Oklahoma is getting greedy and seeking its fifth straight National Championship after sweeping Nebraska two games in the Norman Super Regional, 3-1 and 13-2. They hit four round-trippers in the second game. Now things get interesting for the Sooners, who face SEC rival Tennessee. Four OU players made the Division 1 Softball 2025 All-American teams.
Patty Gasso is in her 31st year as the Sooners’ head coach and has led the team to eight WCWS titles, including the last four years, which set a record. With eight WCWS titles overall, she’s tied for the most National Champions in Division 1 softball history with Arizona’s Mike Candrea.
Head coach: Patty Gasso
Tennessee (45-15) is ready to go toe-to-toe against the Sooners again in 2025, after taking care of Nebraska in three games in the Super Regional in Knoxville. They’re led by SEC Pitcher of the Year Karlyn Pickens. In the Super Regionals, she threw the fastest pitch ever in NCAA Softball history—79.4 mph. She comes in with an ERA under 1.00 and 259 strikeouts. In March, the Lady Vols took two of three games against the Sooners in Oklahoma and are hoping to rediscover that winning formula against the highest-seeded team in this year’s WCWS.
This is Tennessee’s ninth trip to the WCWS, the last being in 2023 when they reached the semifinals. They have lost in the finals twice, in 2007 and 2013; they have yet to win a WCWS title.
Head coach: Karen Weekly
Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Ole Miss Rebels
Texas Tech (50-12) swept the Florida State Seminoles (3-0, 2-1) in the Tallahassee Super Regional to secure their first trip to the WCWS. The heart of the team is pitcher and 2025 Stanford transfer NiJaree Canady, who was in the circle for all innings of both wins. The Seminoles hit .102 for both games against her. For the year, she struck out 279, while giving up just 107 hits and 41 bases on balls…with an ERA under 0.90. Lauren Allred swings a big bat with a .356 average, nine homers and 1.07 OPS.
Texas Tech, under its second-year head coach, had never advanced to a Super Regional, which means this is its first-ever appearance at the WCWS. This season also marked their first-ever Big 12 Conference tournament championship.
Head coach: Gerry Glasco
Ole Miss (42-19), the decided underdog, pulled an upset by eliminating favored Arizona in the Regionals, then taking care of No. 4 seed Arkansas in three games in the Fayetteville Super Regional. The Rebels are strong in the circle—three pitchers have logged more than 100 innings, led by Miali Guachino, with 16 wins and 172 strikeouts in 146 innings. At the plate, Lexie Brady stands in with a 1.205 OPS, 16 home runs and a .333 average. Aliya Binford, the star transfer from Baylor, and Persy Llamas can also go deep, with 12 and 10 home runs, respectively.
This is their first time in the WCWS for Ole Miss, and they arrive as the only unseeded team. They’re looking to prove that they have what it takes to go all the way.
Head coach: Jamie Trachsel
Oregon Ducks vs. UCLA Bruins
Oregon (53-8) spoiled Liberty’s Cinderella season when they swept the Flames in the Eugene Super Regional, closing it out with a dominating 13-1 win. Their bats do a lot of the talking, and seasoned pitchers keep the teams in games. Rylee McCoy leads the charge with 19 dingers, a .399 average and an OPS of 1.328. Kedra Luschar’s .444 batting average leads the team and is backed by 61 RBIs and 17 doubles. Three others have more than 10 home runs. Pitcher Elise Sokolsky has thrown 146 innings and has a 2.00 ERA. Teammate Lyndsey Grein has compiled 222 strikeouts in her 172 innings.
This will be the Oregon Ducks’ seventh trip to the WCWS; they’ve yet to win it all. This is their first appearance since 2018 and their first under their current coach. They’ll go head-to-head with their former Pac-12 rivals, the UCLA Bruins.
Head coach: Melyssa Lombardi
UCLA (54-11) wants to be back on top of the collegiate softball world. By eliminating South Carolina in three in the Los Angeles Super Regional, the Bruins ensured another trip to the WCWS. They bring pitching and power this year. Megan Grant slugged 25 home runs for the team, followed by Jordan Woolery with 23 dingers, 86 RBIs and an OPS of 1.40. Three Bruin pitchers logged more than 100 innings. Kaitlyn Terry tossed 136, with a 2.62 ERA and 10 wins.
The Bruins have 36 WCWS appearances, 13 titles and 22 title game appearances, more than any team in each instance.
Head coach: Kelly Inouye-Perez
Who will be left standing in 2025?
Nothing in sports is automatic. A handful of the NCCA Tournament top seeds didn’t advance past the Regionals: Texas A&M (1), LSU (10), Arizona (13) and Duke (14).
So will Oklahoma make it five-for-five? Will Ole Miss be the new champion, or will UCLA come alive in ’25? No one knows. As the old sports saying goes, “That’s why you play the games.”
And that’s what makes this time of year exciting.
Resources: sportingnews.com/us/college/news/womens-college-world-series-teams; si.com/college/oklahoma/softball/meet-oklahoma-s-opponents; ncaa.com/news/softball/article/2024-05-19; espn.com/watch/catalog/7d99b155-bb1c-3f1d-be39-ea62eec72b9f; YouTube.com/WCWS; ncaa.com/news/softball/article/2025-05-20/re-ranking-16-super-regionals; ncaa.com/brackets/print/softball/d1/2025; ncaa.com/rankings/softball/d1/espncom/usa-softball
