INDIANAPOLIS—The University of Florida was named the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship today when the NCAA Division I Softball Committee announced the 64-team field. The Gators, champions of the Southeastern Conference, are 62-2 and will play Georgia Tech, an at-large selection from the Atlantic Coast Conference, May 16, in front of a home crowd in Gainesville.

Thirty conferences were awarded automatic qualification, and the remaining 34 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and will play at campus sites this weekend.

Team pairings were determined by geographical proximity, with the exception that teams from the same conference were not paired during regional competition, when possible.

The SEC led all conferences with eight teams in the championship, while the Pacific-10 placed seven. Six conferences tied for third with four bids to the tournament. California State University, Fresno, remains the only team to be selected to all 27 championships. Four teams are making their initial appearances in the tournament: Delaware State, Purdue, Stephen F. Austin and Stony Brook.

Only eight schools have been crowned the NCAA Division I softball champion since the tournament started in 1982, and all are in this year’s bracket.

DATES/SITES/PAIRINGS:

Gainesville Regional - May 16-18 at Gainesville, Florida
* Indicates host institution *No. 1 seed Florida (62-2) vs. Georgia Tech (31-29)
Central Florida (46-18) vs. South Florida (44-18)

Fresno Regional - May 16-18 at Fresno, California
San Diego State (43-15) vs. California (40-24)
Sacramento State (32-19) vs. *No. 16 seed Fresno St. (51-11)

Baton Rouge Regional - May 16-18 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana
*No. 9 seed LSU (42-16) vs. Mississippi Valley St. (28-26)
East Carolina (36-28) vs. La.-Lafayette (46-12)

Houston Regional - May 16-18 at Houston, Texas
Washington (28-23-1) vs. Texas (28-21-2)
Delaware State (29-23) vs. *No. 8 seed Houston (50-9)

College Station Regional - May 16-18 at College Station, Texas
*No. 5 seed Texas A&M (49-7) vs. Stephen F. Austin (36-23)
Louisiana Tech (35-27) vs. Auburn (37-20)

Amherst Regional - May 16-18 at Amherst, Massachusetts
* Massachusetts (36-11) vs. Princeton (25-22)
Lehigh (38-15-1) vs. No. 12 seed Stanford (46-12)

Knoxville Regional - May 16-18 at Knoxville, Tennessee
*No. 13 seed Tennessee (47-14) vs. Winthrop (36-17)
Louisville (30-21) vs. Virginia Tech (44-15)

Ann Arbor Regional - May 16-18 at Ann Arbor, Michigan
Notre Dame (37-20-1) vs. Kent State (44-10)
Wright State (33-24) vs. *No. 4 seed Michigan (48-6)
     
Tuscaloosa Regional - May 15-17 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama
*No. 3 seed Alabama (51-6) vs. Chattanooga (41-20)
Jacksonville St. (38-14) vs. Florida St. (37-26)
     
Iowa City Regional - May 16-18 at Iowa City, Iowa
Missouri (44-15) vs. *Iowa (40-18)
Creighton (43-15) vs. No. 14 seed Long Beach St. (39-15)     

Evanston Regional - May 16-18 at Evanston, Illinois
*No. 11 seed Northwestern (37-13) vs. Western Illinois (14-31)
Drake (29-24) vs. DePaul (48-16)
     
Tempe Regional - May 16-18 at Tempe, Arizona
Mississippi St. (40-20) vs. Hawaii (38-18)
Stony Brook (33-21-1) vs. *No. 6 seed Arizona St. (56-5)

Hempstead Regional - May 16-18 at Hempstead, New York
No. 7 seed Arizona (36-16) vs. Canisius (38-12)
Long Island (34-15) vs. *Hofstra (43-11)
     
Norman Regional - May 16-18 at Norman, Oklahoma
Arkansas (36-27) vs. Tulsa (34-23)
Oregon (33-27) vs. *No. 10 seed Oklahoma (43-12)
     
Chapel Hill Regional - May 15-17 at Chapel Hill, North Carolina
No. 15 seed Georgia (43-22) vs. Campbell (41-23)
Brigham Young (42-18) vs. *North Carolina (50-10-1)
     
Los Angeles Regional - May 16-18 at Los Angeles, California
Nevada (42-16) vs. Purdue (34-21)
Cal St. Fullerton (27-26-1) vs. *No. 2 seed UCLA (45-7)

* Hosting institution.

CHAMPIONSHIP STRUCTURE:
The Division I championship provides for a field of 64 teams. The championship will be three weekends of competition. Four teams will participate at each of 16 regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. Sixteen teams were seeded and placed at one of the regional sites. 

The regional winners will advance to super regional competition for a best-of-three series May 23-24 (Memorial Day Weekend) at eight campus sites.

The remaining eight teams will advance to the WCWS, an eight-team, double-elimination tournament.  The championship final will be a best-of-three-series. The WCWS will be conducted May 29 to June 4 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

SELECTION PROCESS:
The NCAA Division I Softball Committee selected teams from the following eight regions to participate in the championship:  Central, East, Northeast, South, Mideast, Midwest, West and Pacific.  Thirty conferences have been granted automatic qualification for the 2008 championship. 

SEEDING, SITES:
Teams were selected to the field of 64 teams. The top 16 teams were seeded in order, and the remaining teams were placed in regional brackets to create balanced competition and avoid conference match-ups, when possible.

CONFERENCES RECEIVING 
AUTOMATIC
QUALIFICATION:

America East – Stony Brook
Atlantic Coast – Virginia Tech
Atlantic 10 – Massachusetts
Atlantic Sun – Campbell
Big East – DePaul
Big South – Winthrop
Big Ten – Northwestern
Big 12 – Nebraska/Texas A&M
Big West – Long Beach State
Colonial Athletic – Hofstra
Conference USA – Central Florida
Horizon League – Wright State
Ivy Group – Princeton
Metro Atlantic – Canisius
Mid-American – Kent
Mid-Eastern – Delaware State
Missouri Valley – Drake
Mountain West – San Diego State
Northeast – Long Island
Ohio Valley – Jacksonville State
Pacific-10 – Arizona State
Pacific Coast – Cal St. Sacramento
Patriot League – Lehigh
Southeastern – Florida
Southern – Chattanooga
Southland – Stephen F. Austin
Summit – Western Illinois
Sun Belt – La.-Lafayette
Southwestern – Mississippi Valley St.
Western Athletic – Louisiana Tech