The 2016 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 20 through June 8, 2016 as the final part of the 2016 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams were to be selected out of an eligible 293 teams on May 15, 2016. Thirty-two teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and thirty-two teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2016 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City in which the Oklahoma Sooners were crowned the champions.
Automatic bids The Big 12, Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference bids were awarded to the regular season champion. All other conferences have the automatic bid go to the conference tournament winner. Conference School Best finish Reference America East Regionals(2004) American Regionals(2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) ACC WCWS(1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2004, 2014) A-10 Regionals(2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015) A-Sun Regionals(2013, 2014, 2015) Big 12 Oklahoma 1st (2000), (2013) Big East 1st Appearance Big Sky Regionals (2015) Big South Regionals (2013, 2015) Big Ten WCWS 1976, 1978 Big West 1st (1986) Colonial Regionals (2009, 2013, 2014, 2015) Conference USA Regionals (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) Horizon League Regionals(2012, 2013) Ivy League WCWS (1995), (1996) MAC Regionals(2005, 2009, 2012) MAAC Regionals(2006, 2013) MEAC Regionals(1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2014, 2015) MVC Regionals(1989, 2005) Mountain West 1st (1998) Northeastern Regionals(2008, 2012) OVC Super Regionals (2009) Pac-12 3rd(2014) Patriot League Regionals (1996, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014) SEC Auburn 4th(2015) SoCon 1st Appearance Southland Regionals (1994, 2005, 2010) SWAC 1st Appearance Summit League Super Regionals(2009) Sun Belt Louisiana–Lafayette WCWS(2008, 2014) WAC 1st Appearance WCC BYU Super Regionals (2010)
National seeds 16 National Seeds were announced on the Selection Show Sunday, May 15 at 10 p.m. EDT on ESPNU. The 16 national seeds hosted the Regionals. Teams in italics advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in bold advanced to Women's College World Series.
1. (53–5) 2. (46–5) 3. Oklahoma (47–7) 4. Auburn (49–9) 5. (44–8) 6. Alabama (46–12) 7. (46–4) 8. (48–8)
9. (43–12) 10. (45–15) 11. (36–13) 12. UCLA (35–13–1) 13. (41–14) 14. Louisiana–Lafayette (43–7) 15. (39–14) 16. (40–17)
Regionals and Super Regionals The Regionals took place May 19–22. The Columbia regional took place May 19–21 because of BYU's no Sunday-play policy. All other regionals occurred May 20–22. The Super Regionals took place from May 26–29.
Gainesville Super Regional
Tallahassee Super Regional
Eugene Super Regional
Auburn Super Regional
Norman Super Regional
Tuscaloosa Super Regional
Harrisonburg Super Regional
Ann Arbor Super Regional
Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series was held June 2 through June 8, 2016, in Oklahoma City.
Participants School Conference Record (conference) Head coach WCWS appearances† (including 2016 WCWS) WCWS best finish†* WCWS W–L record† (excluding 2016 WCWS) Alabama SEC 51–14 (17–8) Patrick Murphy 11 (last: 2015) 1st (2012) 17–19 Auburn SEC 58–12 (16–7) Clint Myers 2(last: 2015) 3rd(2015) 2–2 ACC 55–10 (21–2) Lonni Alameda 9(last: 2014) 3rd(2002) 6–15 SEC 46–20 (12–12) Lu Harris-Champer 3(last: 2010) 3rd(2009, 2010) 4–4 SEC 52–18 (13–11) Beth Torina 5(last: 2015) 3rd(2004, 2015) 8–8 Big-10 52–7 (21–2) Carol Hutchins 12(last: 2015) 1st(2005) 13–22 Oklahoma Big-12 52–7 (17–1) Patty Gasso 10(last: 2014) 1st(2000, 2013) 17–14 UCLA Pac-12 40–16–1 (16–5–1) Kelly Inouye-Perez 26(last: 2015) 1st(1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 19901992, 1995*, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010) 95–30
Bracket
Finals National championshipAuburn v.Oklahoma
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Record by conference Conference# of BidsRecordWin % Big 12 4 14–7 3 1 1 1 1 1 Southeastern 11 41–22 11 6 4 2 1 Atlantic Coast 4 8–7 2 1 1 1 Pac-12 8 23–16 7 5 1 Big Ten 6 12–10 3 1 1 Sun Belt 2 4–4 1 1 CAA 1 4–2 1 1 American 3 3–7 1 Big West 2 3–4 1 Other 23 11–44 2 The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series Teams, National Semi-Finals, Championship Series, and National Champion.
Media coverage
Radio Westwood One provided nationwide radio coverage of the championship series. It was streamed online at westwoodsports.com and through TuneIn. Kevin Kugler and Leah Amico provided the call for Westwood One.
Television ESPN holds exclusive rights to the tournament. They aired games across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU. Select regionals and super-regionals were broadcast on additional ESPN stations like SEC Network, ESPN3, SEC Network Plus, and Longhorn Network. Any regionals not picked up by ESPN were streamed online by the host institution or broadcast by their television partners.
Broadcast assignments
Regionals Columbia: Pam Ward & Cheri Kempf Gainesville: Trey Bender & Jennie Ritter Tallahassee: Melissa Lee & Leah Ross Tuscaloosa: Cara Capuano & Leah Amico Knoxville: Beth Mowins & Michele Smith Auburn: Tiffany Greene & Jenny Dalton-Hill Lafayette: Adam Amin & Amanda Scarborough (ESPN Nets)Tyler Denning & Megan Willis (LHN) Norman: Jenn Hildreth & Carol Bruggeman Eugene: Mark Neely & Danielle Lawrie Athens: Kaleb Frady & Natalie Kerns Baton Rouge: Lyn Rollins & Yvette Girouard Lexington: Dave Baker & Dorian Craft (Fri) or Ginny Carroll (Sat/Sun) Ann Arbor: Lisa Byington & Stacey Phillips (BTN) Harrisonburg: Curt Dudley & Kim Fucci (Madizone HD SN) Seattle: Mike Brown (P12 WASH) Los Angeles- No commentary (P12 UCLA)
Super Regionals Gainesville: Trey Bender & Jennie Ritter Norman: Adam Amin & Amanda Scarborough Harrisonburg: Jenn Hildreth & Carol Bruggeman Tallahassee: Cara Capuano & Leah Amico Tuscaloosa: Beth Mowins, Michele Smith, & Jessica Mendoza Ann Arbor: Pam Ward & Cheri Kempf Auburn: Tiffany Greene & Jenny Dalton-Hill Eugene: Mark Neely & Danielle Lawrie Women's College World Series Adam Amin, Amanda Scarborough, & Laura Rutledge (afternoons) Beth Mowins, Jessica Mendoza, Michele Smith, & Holly Rowe (evenings & championship series)
References