2020 Simulated NCAA College Softball Brackets
We’ve all now have had chances to listen to and digest our Simulation Selection Show. In case you haven’t, make sure you do so here. Let us take a deeper look into some of the numbers for our 2020 Simulation Field of 64.
- (No. 1) UCLA
- San Diego State
- Cal State Fullerton
- Sacramento State
- (No. 2) Louisiana
- Texas A&M
- Baylor
- Stony Brook
- (No. 3) Washington
- Notre Dame
- Ball State
- George Washington
- (No. 4) Arizona
- South Carolina
- Texas Tech
- New Mexico State
- (No. 5) Florida
- Florida Gulf Coast
- South Florida
- Long Island
- (No. 6) Texas
- McNeese State
- Houston
- Columbia
- (No. 7) Oklahoma State
- Utah
- North Texas
- South Dakota State
- (No. 8) Alabama
- James Madison
- Clemson
- UNC Greensboro
- (No. 9) Virginia Tech
- Michigan
- Tennessee
- Norfolk State
- (No. 10) Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Oregon State
- Southern Illinois
- (No. 11) Oregon
- Fresno State
- BYU
- Monmouth
- (No. 12) UCF
- Florida State
- Iowa
- Boston U
- (No. 13) Kentucky
- Liberty
- Louisville
- Illinois-Chicago
- (No. 14) Mississippi State
- Minnesota
- Stanford
- Villanova
- (No. 15) LSU
- Arizona State
- Northwestern
- Texas Southern
- (No. 16) Duke
- Georgia
- Eastern Kentucky
- Gardner-Webb
Bold indicates the automatic bid; Number in parenthesis indicates teams RPI in simulation
SEC (10): Florida (5), Alabama (11), Arkansas (12), Mississippi State (13), Kentucky (14), South Carolina (18), LSU (19), Georgia (21), Texas AM (27), Tennessee (31)
Pac 12 (8): UCLA (1), Washington (3), Arizona (4), Oregon (8), Utah (20), Arizona State (23), Oregon State (26), Stanford (34)
ACC (6): Duke (16), Virginia Tech (9), Florida St (32), Notre Dame (38), Louisville (43), Clemson (44)
Big 12 (5): Oklahoma State (6), Texas (7), Oklahoma (22), Baylor (29), Texas Tech (49)
Big Ten (4): Minnesota (30), Michigan (25), Northwestern (48), Iowa (54)
American (3): UCF (10), Houston (33), South Florida (42)
ASUN (2): Florida Gulf Coast (40), Liberty (28)
MWC (2): Fresno State (15), San Diego State (39)
Atlantic 10: George Washington
American East: Stony Brook
Big East: Villanova
Big Sky: Sacramento State
Big South: Gardner- Webb
Big West: Cal State Fullerton (41)
CAA: James Madison (37)
Conference USA: North Texas (35)
Horizon: Illinois-Chicago
Ivy: Columbia
MAAC: Monmouth
MAC: Ball State
MEAC: Norfolk State
MVC: Southern Illinois
NEC: Long Island
OVC: Eastern Kentucky (54)
Patriot League: Boston
Southern: UNC-Greensboro
Southland: McNeese State (24)
Summit: South Dakota State
Sun Belt: Louisiana (2)
SWAC: Texas Southern
WAC: New Mexico State
WCC: BYU (52)
For the first time since 2016, the SEC didn’t get all eligible members into the tournament which gave other conferences a chance for more at-large bids. It also caused the bubble this season to be more unpredictable than most seasons which cause a lot of trouble for the committee.
Bubble Teams
Teams |
Record |
RPI |
W-L vs. Top 50 |
Best Wins |
Western KY. |
37-13 |
36 |
4-6 |
Troy, Lipscomb |
Louisville |
28-25 |
43 |
7-16 |
Oregon, NW, Duke, Notre Dame |
Clemson |
35-18 |
44 |
5-7 |
Georgia, Troy, FSU, Virginia Tech |
Troy |
34-15 |
46 |
4-6 |
South Carolina, Lipscomb, McNeese State |
Northwestern |
28-22 |
48 |
6-15 |
Florida State, Minnesota, Iowa |
Texas Tech |
30-23 |
49 |
8-15 |
South Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas |
Lipscomb |
31-23 |
50 |
9-12 |
Duke, Western Kentucky |
Kennesaw State |
38-16 |
51 |
5-6 |
Florida Gulf Coast (3) |
Iowa |
40-18 |
54 |
4-5 |
Virginia Tech |
Last 4 Teams In: Iowa, Clemson, USF, Louisville
First 4 Teams Out: Western Kentucky, Troy, Lipscomb, Kennesaw State
The ACC was one of the biggest benefactors with five at-large selections including Clemson making it in their first year as a program and Louisville who just sneaked into the field with an RPI of 43 Another league who benefited was the ASUN as their regular-season champion Liberty claimed an at-large bid in spite of losing the ASUN semifinals to Jacksonville. Their RPI of 28 made their life a little bit easier with respect to their at-large selection.
Teams on Bubble to Host
Teams |
Record |
RPI |
W-L vs. Top 50 |
Mississippi State |
44-13 |
13 |
15-11 |
LSU |
42-16 |
19 |
15-10 |
Duke |
41-9 |
16 |
9-9 |
Fresno State |
44-10 |
15 |
8-5 |
As always, there was some questions as to who had a chance to be a host. Mississippi State used a run to the SEC Tournament Finals (losing to Florida) plus 15 Top 50 victories to secure their slot as a host for the first time. A surprise host was Duke who won the ACC Tournament over host Virginia Tech to give the Blue Devils not only their first NCAA Tournament bid, but #Mayhem at Durham. We expect the Cameron Crazies to camp out for tickets.
If you have questions about your favorite team, a certain regional, or anything in particular, follow us on Twitter and Facebook at InTheCircleSB
May the simulated #Mayhem begin!!!
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