College softball has long been my favorite NCAA sport. There's an energy the players and the fans bring that reminds you that while yes, this is an elite competition, there's a level of shithousery and fun that we can enjoy before we watch Oklahoma win another title.
There’s just something that makes college softball feel different compared to other sports. It might be because the fans all feel like we're part of the same small community that goes beyond just collegiate athletics, or maybe it's the ridiculously energetic dugout chants every team has that can be heard from a mile away, or maybe it's because we all share the same frustration of half the games appearing on FloSports, a streaming service absolutely no-one has access to (actually no, it's definitely not this) but there's something about the sport that has always felt more welcoming and community orientated and it was what made me fall in love with it when I first started watching.
Enough about the intangible reasons why I love this sport though, this season is set up to be an absolute banger from first pitch. Here are some of the things I'm excited to check out this year:
Realignment...good?
No. Realignment sucks. The influence of college football came for college softball and took with it one of the strongest conferences (RIP Pac-12, I'll forever love you) but it did give us something unbelievably exciting: Oklahoma and Texas just joined the SEC.
The SEC is an absolute monster in college softball and they've just added last year's two WCWS finalists. The SEC has the top 3 teams in USA Softball’s pre-season rankings, 8 other SEC teams feature in the pre-season top 25 poll and the remaining 4 received votes. This is a conference that is so stacked that the conference tournament may be better than the WCWS itself.
Folks, there's no other way to say it, this is going to rock.
OK, Cool? Hook Em!
Oklahoma's run as the pre-season #1 has ended and who better to replace them but their rivals, Texas. After four consecutive titles the Sooners have lost the core pieces of their dynasty and are finally reloading. Meanwhile, Mike White's Texas team is returning 16 players from their WCWS runners-up roster.
Texas has arguably the best starting pitching rotation in the nation, bringing back RHP Teagan Kavan, RHP Mac Morgan, and RHP Citlaly Gutierrez. All three starting pitchers had an ERA under 2.20 last season. Oh, and they just landed the #4 overall recruit, RHP Cambria Salmon.
If that's not enough, among the returning position players is 2024's Softball America Player of the Year, Reese Atwood. In her sophomore season Atwood was the Big 12's leader in OPS (1.362), hits (80), and RBIs (90) and broke single season records for Texas in home runs (23), RBIs (90), and total bases (163).
Texas is going to be appointment viewing this season. Oklahoma in 3.
Big 10 Heads West
The death of the Pac-12 as we knew it has brought about a huge shift within their new conferences. UCLA, Washington, and Oregon have joined the Big 10 and should immediately be competitive within the conference. Stanford and Cal have joined the ACC and are expected to hit the ground running. It's a similar story in the Big 12 where Arizona is projected to finish 3rd. One of the premiere softball conferences is now gone and they're going to make sure they're everyone else's problem.
UCLA is the one to watch here. The Big 10 is traditionally a weak softball conference and now they suddenly have the winningest team in college softball history ready to bully everyone they face. UCLA is coming into the season with the best recruiting class of 2025. The nation’s #1 recruit RHP Addisen Fisher joins 2024 Pac-12 all-conference pitchers, RHP Taylor Tinsley and LHP Kaitlyn Terry, forming a starting pitching rotation that will rival the Longhorns.
Big 10 softball now runs through Westwood and I don't see anyone stopping them soon.