NCAA Division I Softball Championship
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The NCAA Division I Softball Championship tournament is held each year in June and features 64 college softball teams in the United States, culminating in the Women's College World Series.
The tournament is unique in that it features three tiers of competition and a loss doesn't necessarily eliminate a team from contention. In fact, throughout the entire tournament a team can lose a total of 4 games and still be crowned champions.
During team selection the top 8 teams are given National Seeds which guarantees them home field advantage (provided they continue to win) throughout the tournament until the Women's College World Series.
The first tier, called Regionals, consists of 16 locations that include 4 teams, seeded 1 through 4, competing in a double elimination bracket. The winner of each regional moves on to the second tier, the Super Regionals.
The Super Regionals are played at 8 locations throughout the country and consist of the 16 surviving teams. Two teams are matched up at each location and they play a best of 3 game series to determine who moves on to the Women's College World Series.
The final 8 teams meet up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the Women's College World Series. The WCWS is further subdivided into two sections. The first part resembles the Regional tier, as teams are broken off in two groups of 4 to play in a double elimination bracket. The winners of each bracket then meet up in a championship series, which is similar to the Super Regional tier in that it is a best of 3 game series. The winner of the Women's College World Series is crowned National Champion.
