Why UNC softball was snubbed from 2026 NCAA tournament bracket selection

Why UNC softball was snubbed from 2026 NCAA tournament bracket selection originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The North Carolina Tar Heels won nearly two-thirds of their softball games in the 2026 NCAA regular season.

That wasn't enough to get them into the NCAA tournament bracket that was selected on Sunday.

Some viewed UNC as a snub, and the team's official account used three broken heart emojis to sum up the mood:

There'll never be as much dialogue here as there would be about a basketball or college football selection, but it's still an interesting one.

UNC finished the year 32-19, although just 9-15 in the ACC.

Why didn't UNC make NCAA softball tourney?

The reality is that the RPI didn't quite work in North Carolina's favor.

It's a 64-team tournament, with 31 automatic bids based on conference championships and 33 at-large bids.

UNC had the 43rd-best RPI. It put them just on the outside looking in when you consider those auto bids, as well.

North Carolina may have given itself a chance by beating ranked Clemson in the first round of the ACC tourney, but the Tar Heels fell to ranked Duke in the next round. Maybe one more win over a ranked team would've made the difference.

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