![Florida head coach Tim Walton comes on field before an NCAA softball game against St. Leo at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, November 13, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2610,h_1468/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01krbxhfvr8fc72cnt83.jpg "Florida head coach Tim Walton comes on field before an NCAA softball game against St. Leo at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, November 13, 2025. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
The bracket for the NCAA Softball Tournament is out, and once again, the SEC is in a prime position to load up with tickets to Oklahoma City. 12 of the 15 SEC squads got invites to the tournament, with nine teams getting to serve as a host for the Regional round, and six teams are in line to host Super Regionals.
The Gators came in as the No. 6 overall seed and will get to host through Super Regionals.
And when looking over at FSU just down the road, ignoring the actual matchup itself that potentially awaits Florida in Super Regionals, the Gators were once again reminded why playing in the SEC has its advantages come May.
Florida gets to host while FSU does not
FSU wound up with the No. 9 overall seed, which means barring an upset to UCLA, the Seminoles will be getting on a plane to Los Angeles for Super Regionals while Florida gets to host. Seminole fans are annoyed since FSU won both its conference and conference tournament, while UCLA did neither. FSU also had a superior non-conference strength of schedule and RPI to UCLA, and both teams wound up 7-8 against Quad One opponents.
But it is yet another reminder of the sinking ship that is the ACC. FSU’s overall strength of schedule wound up 45th in the country, and its overall RPI was 10th.
Translation: There is almost nothing FSU could have done to earn a top-eight seed because the ACC is that weak on the back end in softball. To give a comparison, Notre Dame finished 8th in the ACC and had an overall record of 25-28. In the SEC, LSU finished 8th with a record of 37-17, and the Tigers are hosting this upcoming weekend.
The Big 12 has the same problem. Texas Tech, which would slot into the Super Regional round with Florida, wound up with the No. 11 overall seed pick despite an overall record of 51-6. So even though the Big 12 got seven teams into the tournament, Texas Tech’s RPI was 15th after a strength of schedule that was 61st.
If one is keeping score at home, Florida’s RPI is 5th, and its strength of schedule is 12th in the country.
It doesn’t automatically mean that Florida is going to wind up in Oklahoma City, but it doesn’t hurt to be at home while others have to travel in part because of the conference that they play in.
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