2019 NCAA softball tournament bracket: Takeaways, toughest, easiest paths to World Series

The 2019 NCAA softball tournament bracket has been released and the stage is set for the best teams in the country to battle on the road to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series.

It’s officially time for the 2019 NCAA softball tournament!

For those that haven’t been paying close attention, last night, during Selection Sunday, 64 teams were picked, seeded, and scheduled for the 2019 NCAA softball tournament. 16 different regionals were set up with four teams in each regional.

Starting this Friday, the mayhem will begin as these teams will begin playing for a chance to advance on to the Super Regionals with the ultimate goal being the Women’s College World Series.

View the full bracket here:

Where is the toughest regional this year?

There are three regionals that caught my eye when I started thinking about what the toughest regional might be this year. That’d be Oxford, Baton Rouge, and Minneapolis.

Let’s start with Oxford. Ole Miss (37-17 overall record) is hosting a regional as the No. 11 overall seed this year. In that regional are Chattanooga (37-15 overall record), Southeast Missouri State (45-16 overall record), and Louisiana (50-4 overall record). The Ragin’ Cajuns are the kind of team that could really make things difficult for the Rebels. Louisiana has a better RPI ranking than Ole Miss and could potentially be one of the best teams in the country.

Over in Baton Rouge, the No. 10 overall seed LSU Tigers (40-16 overall record) get to host Texas Tech (39-14 overall record), Louisiana Tech (44-14 overall record), and Monmouth (36-16 overall record). The Tigers will be hosting two conference champions in Monmouth and Louisiana Tech while Texas Tech is the No. 19 ranked team in RPI rankings.

Finally, up in the Minneapolis regional, every single team competing has over 40 wins. The No. 7 overall seed Minnesota (41-12 overall record) will be hosting North Dakota State (42-14 overall record), Drake (42-14 overall record), and Georgia (40-17 overall record). The Golden Gophers will have their hands full with this slate.

Who has the easiest path to the Women’s College World Series?

It’d be fair to say that the Washington Huskies might have one of the easiest paths (if not the easiest path) to Oklahoma City this season. The Huskies are the No. 3 national seed this season and are hosting a regional featuring Mississippi State, Seattle U, and Fordham. The Huskies, by far, are the best team in this regional and should be able to come away from this round by advancing on and hosting a super regional.

Mississippi State and Fordham both have to travel across the country to play the Huskies and while Seattle U gets to stay at home, there’s still a clear talent discrepancy between Washington and the Redhawks.

Should Washington actually come out on top of its regional, the Huskies would then be paired up with whichever team wins in the Lexington regional. Assuming that the winner there is the host team, Kentucky, the Huskies and the Wildcats would then be matched up to play for a chance at competing in the Women’s College World Series.

Kentucky is the 16th highest rated team in the latest RPI rankings while Washington is the 2nd. There’s a very real chance that Washington advances on to OKC with little issue in both the regional and super regional rounds of the 2019 NCAA softball tournament.