Women's College World Series
The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I Softball Championship for college softball in the United States. The tournament format consists of two four-team double-elimination brackets. The winners of each bracket then compete in a best-of-three series to determine the Division I WCWS National Champion. The WCWS takes place at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. From 1969 to 1981, the women's collegiate softball championship was also known as the Women's College World Series and was promoted as such.[1] During 1969–1979, the series was played in Omaha.
Softball was one of twelve women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981-82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the AIAW for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same twelve (and other) sports; however, after a year of dual women's championships, the NCAA conquered the AIAW and usurped its authority and membership.[2]
Division I
| Year | Champion | Title Series Score |
Runner-up | Tie-3rd | Tie-5th | Tie-7th | |||
| 1982 | UCLA WCAA | 2-0 (8 inn) | Fresno State NorPac | Cal St. Fullerton WCAA | Arizona State WCAA | Nebraska Big Eight | Western Michigan MAC | Creighton Gateway | Oklahoma State Big Eight |
| 1983 | Texas A&M Southwest | 2-0 (12 inn) | Cal State Fullerton WCAA | UCLA WCAA | South Carolina Independent | Louisiana Tech Southland | Pacific NorPac | Indiana Big Ten | Missouri Big Eight |
| 1984 | UCLA WCAA | 1-0 (13 inn) | Texas A&M Southwest | Northwestern Big Ten | Nebraska Big Eight | Adelphi Atlantic 10 | Fresno State NorPac | Cal Poly Pomona CCAA | Utah State High Country |
| 1985 | 2-1 (9 inn) | Nebraska* Big Eight | Cal St. Fullerton PCAA | Cal Poly Pomona CCAA | Adelphi Atlantic 10 | Northwestern Big Ten | Louisiana Tech Southland | Utah High Country | |
| 1986 | Cal State Fullerton PCAA | 3-0 | Texas A&M Southwest | California NorPac | Indiana Big Ten | Creighton Gateway | Long Beach State PCAA | Louisiana Tech Southland | Northwestern Big Ten |
| 1987 | Texas A&M Southwest | 4-1 | UCLA Pac-10 | Cal St. Fullerton PCAA | Nebraska Big Eight | Central Michigan MAC | Fresno State PCAA | Arizona State Pac-10 | Florida State Metro |
| 1988 | UCLA Pac-10 | 3-0 | Fresno State PCAA | Arizona Pac-10 | Cal Poly Pomona CCAA | Nebraska Big Eight | Texas A&M Southwest | Aldelphi Atlantic 10 | Northern Illinois North Star |
| 1989 | 1-0 | Arizona Pac-10 | Oklahoma State Big Eight | Cal Poly Pomona CCAA | Oregon Pac-10 | South Carolina Metro | Toledo MAC | ||
| 1990 | 2-0 | Florida State Metro | Oklahoma State Big Eight | Long Beach State Big West | UNLV Big West | Arizona Pac-10 | Kent State MAC | ||
| 1991 | Arizona Pac-10 | 5-1 | UCLA Pac-10 | Fresno State Big West | Long Beach State Big West | Florida State Metro | Missouri Big Eight | UNLV Big West | Utah WAC |
| 1992 | UCLA Pac-10 | 2-0 | Arizona Pac-10 | Fresno State Big West | Massachusetts Atlantic 10 | California Pac-10 | Long Beach State Big West | Florida State ACC | Kansas Big Eight |
| 1993 | Arizona Pac-10 | 1-0 | UCLA Pac-10 | Southwestern Louisiana Sun Belt | Oklahoma State Big Eight | Cal St. Northridge WAC | Connecticut Big East | Florida State ACC | Long Beach State Big West |
| 1994 | 4-0 | Cal State Northridge WAC | Oklahoma State Big Eight | UCLA Pac-10 | Fresno State WAC | Utah WAC | UIC Mid-Con | Missouri Big Eight | |
| 1995 | UCLA** Pac-10 | 4-2 | Arizona Pac-10 | Iowa Big Ten | UNLV Big West | Cal St. Fullerton Big West | SW Louisiana Sun Belt | Michigan Big Ten | Princeton Ivy |
| 1996 | Arizona Pac-10 | 6-4 | Washington Pac-10 | Iowa Big Ten | UCLA Pac-10 | California Pac-10 | SW Louisiana Sun Belt | Michigan Big Ten | Princeton Ivy |
| 1997 | 10-2 (5 inn) | UCLA Pac-10 | Fresno State WAC | Washington Pac-10 | Iowa Big Ten | Michigan Big Ten | Massachusetts Atlantic 10 | South Carolina SEC | |
| 1998 | Fresno State WAC | 1-0 | Arizona Pac-10 | Oklahoma State Big 12 | Washington Pac-10 | Michigan Big Ten | Nebraska Big 12 | Massachusetts Atlantic 10 | Texas Big 12 |
| 1999 | UCLA Pac-10 | 3-2 | Washington Pac-10 | California Pac-10 | DePaul Conference USA | Arizona Pac-10 | Fresno State WAC | Arizona State Pac-10 | Southern Miss Conference USA |
| 2000 | Oklahoma Big 12 | 3-1 | UCLA Pac-10 | Arizona Pac-10 | Southern Miss Conference USA | Alabama SEC | Washington Pac-10 | California Pac-10 | DePaul Conference USA |
| 2001 | Arizona Pac-10 | 1-0 | UCLA Pac-10 | LSU SEC | Stanford Pac-10 | California Pac-10 | Oklahoma Big 12 | Iowa Big Ten | Michigan Big Ten |
| 2002 | California Pac-10 | 6-0 | Arizona Pac-10 | Arizona State Pac-10 | Florida State ACC | Nebraska Big 12 | UCLA Pac-10 | Michigan Big Ten | Oklahoma Big 12 |
| 2003 | UCLA Pac-10 | 1-0 (9 inn) | California Pac-10 | Arizona Pac-10 | Texas Big 12 | Oklahoma Big 12 | Washington Pac-10 | Alabama SEC | LA-Lafayette Sun Belt |
| 2004 | 3-1 | LSU SEC | Stanford Pac-10 | Florida State ACC | Oklahoma Big 12 | Michigan Big Ten | Washington Pac-10 | ||
| 2005*** | Michigan Big Ten | 0-5 5-2 4-1 (10 inn) | UCLA Pac-10 | Tennessee SEC | Texas Big 12 | Alabama SEC | Arizona Pac-10 | California Pac-10 | DePaul Conference USA |
| 2006 | Arizona Pac-10 | 8-0 5-0 | Northwestern Big Ten | Tennessee SEC | UCLA Pac-10 | Arizona State Pac-10 | Texas Big 12 | Alabama SEC | Oregon State Pac-10 |
| 2007 | 0-3 1-0 (10 inn) 5-0 | Tennessee SEC | Northwestern Big Ten | Washington Pac-10 | Baylor Big 12 | DePaul Big East | Arizona State Pac-10 | Texas A&M Big 12 | |
| 2008 | Arizona State Pac-10 | 3-0 11-0 | Texas A&M Big 12 | Alabama SEC | Florida SEC | LA-Lafayette Sun Belt | UCLA Pac-10 | Arizona Pac-10 | Virginia Tech ACC |
| 2009 | Washington Pac-10 | 8-0 3-2 | Florida SEC | Alabama SEC | Georgia SEC | Arizona Pac-10 | Michigan Big Ten | Arizona State Pac-10 | Missouri Big 12 |
| 2010 | UCLA Pac-10 | 6-5 (8 inn) 15-9 | Arizona Pac-10 | Georgia SEC | Tennessee SEC | Florida SEC | Hawaii WAC | Missouri Big 12 | Washington Pac-10 |
| 2011 | Arizona State Pac-10 | 14-4 7-2 | Florida SEC | Alabama SEC | Baylor Big 12 | California Pac-10 | Missouri Big 12 | Oklahoma Big 12 | Oklahoma State Big 12 |
| 2012 | Alabama SEC | 1-4 8-6 5-4 | Oklahoma Big 12 | California Pac-12 | Arizona State Pac-12 | LSU SEC | Oregon Pac-12 | South Florida Big East | Tennessee SEC |
| 2013 | Oklahoma Big 12 | 5-3 (12 inn) 4-0 | Tennessee SEC | Washington Pac-12 | Texas Big 12 | Michigan Big Ten | Florida SEC | Arizona State Pac-12 | Nebraska Big Ten |
| 2014 | Florida SEC | 5-0 6-3 | Alabama SEC | Oregon Pac-12 | Baylor Big 12 | Oklahoma Big 12 | Kentucky SEC | LA-Lafayette Sun Belt | Florida State ACC |
* Nebraska's runner-up finish in 1985 was vacated by the NCAA.
** The 1995 title by UCLA and any related records have been vacated by the NCAA due to scholarship violations. Criticism also centered on UCLA player Tanya Harding who was recruited from Queensland, Australia midway through the 1995 season. After UCLA captured the NCAA National Championship, Harding, the MVP of the tournament, returned to her homeland without taking final exams or earning a single college credit. Despite not violating any formal rules in recruiting Harding, the incident generated heated criticism that some foreign athletes were little more than hired guns.[3][4]
*** Beginning in 2005, a best-of-three series determines the national championship.
Team titles
| School | Championships | Years |
|---|---|---|
| UCLA* | 11 | 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010 |
| Arizona | 8 | 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007 |
| Arizona State | 2 | 2008, 2011 |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 2000, 2013 |
| Texas A&M | 2 | 1983, 1987 |
| Florida | 1 | 2014 |
| Alabama | 1 | 2012 |
| Cal St. Fullerton | 1 | 1986 |
| Fresno St. | 1 | 1998 |
| Michigan | 1 | 2005 |
| Washington | 1 | 2009 |
| California | 1 | 2002 |
| *UCLA also won the 1995 title, but it has since been vacated by the NCAA; see above. | ||
DGWS/AIAW World Series championships by school
| School | Championships | Years |
|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy College (Nebraska) | 3 | 1969, 1970, 1971 (all DGWS) |
| Arizona State | 2 | 1972 (DGWS), 1973 |
| Utah State | 2 | 1980, 1981 |
| Florida State | 2 | 1981, 1982 (both Slow Pitch) |
| (Southwest) Missouri State | 1 | 1974 |
| Nebraska Omaha | 1 | 1975 |
| Michigan State | 1 | 1976 |
| Northern Iowa | 1 | 1977 |
| UCLA | 1 | 1978 |
| Texas Woman's | 1 | 1979 |
| Texas A&M | 1 | 1982 |
Championships & Appearances by School †
(color coded by current conference)
| School | Championships (Through 2014) |
Title Games (Through 2014) |
WCWS Appearances (Through 2014) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA* | 11 | 19 | 24 |
| Arizona | 8 | 13 | 22 |
| Cal | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| Fresno St | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| Arizona St | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| Washington | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Michigan | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Alabama | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Texas A&M | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Nebraska* | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Oklahoma St | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Florida St | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| CS Fullerton | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Missouri | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| La-Lafayette | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Long Beach St | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Florida | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Texas | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| DePaul | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Iowa | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| CalPoly Pomona | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| CS Northridge | 0 | 1 | 2 |
*: UCLA's 1995 title and Nebraska's 1985 runner-up were vacated by the NCAA and are not counted
1-3 WCWS appearances with No title games:
- 3 appearances: Oregon, Baylor, Utah, LSU, South Carolina, UNLV, UMass, Adelphi, Louisiana Tech
- 2 appearances: Stanford, Georgia, Indiana, Princeton, Creighton, So Mississippi
- 1 appearance: Kentucky, Oregon St, South Florida, Utah St, Hawaii, UConn, Kansas, Virginia Tech, W Michigan, C Michigan, No Illinois, Ill-Chicago, Kent St, Toledo, Pacific
Championships & Appearances by conference †
| Conference | Championships (Through 2014) |
Title Game/Series Appearances (Through 2014) |
WCWS Appearances (Through 2014) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pac-121 | 23 | 36 | 80 |
| Big 12 | 2 | 3 | 27 |
| SEC | 2 | 7 | 28 |
| Big Ten | 1 | 2 | 22 |
| Big West2 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| Big Eight3 (d) | 12 | ||
| WAC4 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Atlantic 10 | 6 | ||
| Southwest5 (d) | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| ACC | 8 | ||
| Conference USA6 | 5 | ||
| Sun Belt | 6 | ||
| CCAA | 4 | ||
| MAC | 4 | ||
| Metro 6(d) | 4 | ||
| Southland | 3 | ||
| American Athletic Conference 7 | 3 | ||
| Ivy | 2 | ||
| Missouri Valley8 | 2 | ||
| Independent | 1 | ||
| Summit League9 | 1 | ||
| NorPac10 (d) | 1 | 3 | |
| North Star10 (d) | 1 | ||
| WCAA10 (d) | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 1UCLA's 1995 WCWS participation & title were vacated by the NCAA, and are not included in these figures; see above. The Pac-12, which adopted its current name on July 1, 2011, retains all historical records from its years as the Pac-10. The conference had adopted the "Pac-10" name in 1978, but did not begin sponsoring women's sports until the 1986–87 school year. | |||
| 2The Big West Conference was known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association until July 1988. Totals include all appearances by conference members under both names, but includes only appearances after the conference began sponsoring women's sports in 1984–85. | |||
| 3 Nebraska's 1985 WCWS participation & title game appearance were vacated by the NCAA, and are not included in these totals. The Big Eight merged with four teams from the Southwest Conference to form the Big 12 in 1996. | |||
| 4The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) did not sponsor women's sports until the 1990–91 academic year, after absorbing the High Country Athletic Conference (HCAC), a parallel women's-only conference. The WAC maintains all historic records from the HCAC; totals include Utah State's 1984 and Utah's 1985 appearances while in the HCAC. | |||
| 5Texas A&M won two titles, made four title game appearances and five WCWS appearances while they were still members of the Southwest Conference. This conference is now defunct. Texas A&M was a charter member of the Big 12 in 1996, but left for the Southeastern Conference in July 2012. | |||
| 6Following the breakup of the Metro in 1991 by Florida State, South Carolina, Cincinnati, and Memphis, the Metro and its breakaway Great Midwest Conference reunified in 1995 as Conference USA. | |||
| 7The American Athletic Conference records includes the former Big East Conference from 1979 until 2013. The charter and all records of the former Big East remain with The American. | |||
| 8Records include those of the former Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference when it was originally a women's-only conference parallel to the MVC. In 1985, after the MVC stopped sponsoring football, the Gateway took on football as its only men's sport. In 1992, the women's portion of the Gateway merged into the MVC, which maintains all historic records of Gateway women's sports. The football side of the conference maintained the Gateway charter, first as the Gateway Football Conference and now the Missouri Valley Football Conference. | |||
| 9The Mid-Continent Conference adopted its current name of The Summit League in June 2007. | |||
| 10The NorPac, in full the Northern Pacific Conference, was a women's-only conference that operated from 1982 to 1986. The conference disbanded when the then-Pac-10, home to five of the final seven NorPac members, began sponsoring women's sports in 1986–87. The remaining two schools, which were members of the PCAA for men's sports, moved their women's sports to that conference. | |||
| 9The North Star Conference was a women's-only conference that merged into the Mid-Con, now The Summit League, in 1992. The Summit maintains all historic records of North Star sports. | |||
| 10The WCAA, in full the Western Collegiate Athletic Association, was a women's-only conference that operated from 1981 to 1986. Its final five members were all members of the conference known at the time as the Pac-10, and moved their women's sports to that league. | |||
| (d) Conference is now defunct. | |||
† Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1982 (both Division I tournaments in 1982—AIAW and NCAA—were called "Women's College World Series").
See also
- College softball
- NCAA Division I Softball Championship
- NCAA Division II Softball Championship
- NCAA Division III Softball Championship
- AIAW Intercollegiate Women's Softball Champions
References
- ↑ Mary L. Littlewood (1998). Women's Fastpitch Softball - The Path to the Gold, An Historical Look at Women's Fastpitch in the United States (first ed.). National Fastpitch Coaches Association, Columbia, Missouri. pp. 145, 208. ISBN 0-9664310-0-6.
- ↑ Grundy, Pamela and Shackelford, Susan (2005). Shattering the Glass. The New Press. ISBN 1-56584-822-5.
- ↑ Starr, Mark (June 12, 1995). "No Credit For UCLA". Newsweek. p. 58.
- ↑ Montville, Leigh (June 12, 1995). "Ringer From Down Under". Sports Illustrated.
External links
- NCAA softball webpage
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