Five teams feeling the heat as the 2026 NCAA Softball Tournament begins

UCLA fell short of winning the Big Ten championship this season, but bigger goals await. The Bruins will likely go as far as the bats of Grant and Woolery can take them — which is good news considering they’ve combined for 71 home runs this season.

It would be a disappointment if the Bruins fail to return to Oklahoma City.

Texas

Only four programs in the history of Division I college softball have won consecutive national championships: Oklahoma, Florida, UCLA and Arizona. The Longhorns have the opportunity to join that exclusive group.

Led by Reese Atwood, Texas has the pieces to make it back to Oklahoma City. And its path to returning to the World Series is manageable. At first glance, Baylor, Wisconsin and Wagner don’t look like teams that will be able to keep pace with Texas, and neither do the teams in the College Station Regional — Texas A&M, Arizona State, UConn and McNeese.

It would be arguably the biggest upset of the tournament if Texas is sent home during the first two rounds.

Oklahoma

Since the turn of the century, coach Patty Gasso’s Sooners have become arguably the most iconic and recognizable brand in college softball. Between 2013 and 2024, Oklahoma ripped off seven national championships. A season ago, they swept the SEC’s regular season and tournament titles, but their run of national championships came to an end with a loss to Texas Tech.

Can the Sooners return to their perch atop the sport this postseason?

They certainly have the offense to do it, ranking first in batting average at .389. Leading that Oklahoma lineup is freshman catcher Kendall Wells, who has blasted 36 homers this season.

Belmont

Belmont’s pressure is different from the other teams on this list. Few expect the Bruins to compete for a national championship, but for the past three seasons they’ve been led by one of the best pitchers in the sport — Maya Johnson — and have had little national success to show for it.

Johnson, who was the third overall pick in the AUSL Draft, leads the nation in ERA this season with a 0.66 mark. But during her time at Belmont, the Bruins have never advanced to a super regional. She hasn’t had her signature postseason moment as we’ve seen from mid-major stars in other sports — think Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne leading the Blue Hens to the Sweet 16 in 2013.

Unfortunately, Belmont got one of the toughest draws in the tournament. They were placed in No. 1 overall seed Alabama’s regional and will face a strong Southeast Louisiana team to open the postseason.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Five teams under the most pressure as the NCAA Softball Tournament begins