For the first time since 2019 (due to the spring 2020 COVID-19 college-sports cancellations), the geospatial maps are back! As readers of this site will know, each year I plot the locations of teams that get sent to play in the 16 NCAA women's softball regionals. These maps show which regionals are geographically compact (i.e., all four teams being from the same state or two neighboring states) and which send teams all the way across the country to play. With COVID safety standards still in place to some extent, I thought the regionals might be more compact than usual to minimize travel. However, this does not appear to be the case.
Besides geography, this posting also discusses the substance of the national seedings and regional placements. The most controversial seeding is almost certainly the No. 16 slot given to the University of Washington, as the Huskies were a Top 5 team in the national polls and finished second in the tough Pac 12 conference. This Seattle Times column offers a blend of outrage at U-Dub's perceived slight and an examination of possible reasons for the team's low seeding.
To get started, here's a map* of the 64 teams that made the NCAA tournament (you can click to enlarge it). Later, we'll look at maps for each region, but for now, we can see larger trends. Teams (dots) are heavily concentrated in the southeastern quadrant of the U.S. Part of it is population, but states such as New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois have large populations, but not many tournament-caliber softball teams.
Next, we see the four regions featuring a Top 4 national seed. Teams in a regional are identified by a white "spotlight" and black underline, with the host team highlighted in yellow.
Seven of the past eight
Women's College World Series have been won by either UCLA (2019), Oklahoma (2013, 2016, 2017), Florida (2014, 2015), or Alabama (2012).** As a sign of teams' entrenchment at the top, these same schools are seeded No. 1 through No. 4. Clemson, which has been ranked as high as 10th in some national polls, not only was denied a Top 16 seed, but was sent to the very difficult Alabama regional. The Tigers are
not happy.
Shown next are the regions featuring the No. 5-8 teams.
No. 5 seems a little high for Oklahoma State to me, but the Cowgirls do own a win over Oklahoma (vs. three losses), four wins over Texas, two over LSU, and one over Arkansas. The No. 6 seed is Arkansas, the SEC regular-season co-champ (with Florida, both teams finishing 19-5). One reservation regarding the Razorbacks is that, because SEC teams play only eight conference series, Arkansas's schedule did not include Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas A&M. One other note: Iowa State, which has long struggled in the Big 8/12, will be making its
first appearance in the NCAA tourney since 1988. The Cyclones are in the Missouri regional.
Maps for the No. 9 and 10 national seeds appear next. These are both relatively compact regionals, but the ones featuring the No. 11 and 12 teams are not, so all four of these regionals could not fit on one slide.
James Madison and Liberty have both appeared in the No. 20-25 range of the major national polls, so No. 9-seed Tennessee may be in for some tough competition. No. 10-seed Florida State looks to have an easier regional.
As noted, No. 11 Arizona and No. 12 Texas each host regionals with some long-distance travelers. Ole Miss, which finished eighth in the SEC at 12-12, will be traveling the least distance to Tucson, whereas the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) and Villanova (in the Philadelphia area) have even farther to come.
The Texas regional features the interesting angle of Oregon coming to Austin, as Longhorn coach Mike White led the Ducks until 2018. According to this
article:
After Texas hired White following the 2018 season, four of his Oregon players followed him to Austin. Three of those transfers — [catcher Mary] Iakopo and utility players Shannon Rhodes and Lauren Burke — are still UT starters.
(Duck-turned-Longhorn pitcher Miranda Elish could have returned for the present season, but
decided not to.)
Oregon took two of six games from UCLA this season.
Finally, we have maps for the regionals featuring the No. 13-16 seeds.
No. 13-seed Duke is the only national seed not hosting. According to this
article, "Due to COVID-19, the selection committee chose 20 predetermined sites and announced the 16 on Sunday. The Blue Devils were not one of the 20 predetermined sites, but they did earn a national seed." Instead, the regional with Duke will be held at Georgia. The Duke program has competed only since 2018, so it has certainly made quick strides. I have searched online for whether the Blue Devils' stadium does not meet NCAA criteria for hosting, but I have yet to find an answer.
Two unique aspects of this 2021 college-softball season -- the Big 10 playing a conference-only schedule and major tournaments such as the Mary Nutter and Judi Garman Classics being cancelled or greatly scaled back -- have made it impossible for some teams to demonstrate their abilities in relation to other top squads nationally. My graduate-school alma mater, the University of Michigan, went 36-6 against exclusively Big 10 opposition, which seems pretty good. With no real context for evaluating the Wolverines nationally, however, the NCAA tournament committee deemed them unworthy of a Top 16 seed and ability to host. Instead, Michigan will travel to Seattle for the Washington regional.
Play begins Friday, except for the ASU region, which starts Thursday.
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*I used the "My Maps" feature of Google, which accepts an Excel document listing physical addresses for all entities, to generate the maps, and the Snipping Tool and PowerPoint to edit the maps.
**Florida State in 2018 is the exception.
