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News Release
SOFTBALL TO FACE GEORGIA IN NCAA TOURNAMENT; UMBC HEADING TO COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA
5/12/2002
Division I Softball Championship Pairings AnnouncedMay 12, 2002 - DATES/SITES/PAIRINGS: * Indicates host institution Seed No. 1 - May 16-19 at Columbia, South CarolinaNo. 1 seed UCLA (50-6)No. 2 seed Georgia (57-15)No. 3 seed *South Carolina (43-18)No. 4 seed Eastern Kentucky (36-12)No. 5 seed UMBC (46-19)No. 6 seed Liberty (28-31)Seed No. 2 - May 16-19 at Minneapolis, MinnesotaNo. 1 seed Arizona (48-10)No. 2 seed DePaul (46-9)No. 3 seed *Minnesota (35-19)No. 4 seed Princeton (34-16)No. 5 seed Penn State (32-24)No. 6 seed Boston U. (28-21)Seed No. 3 - May 16-19 at Lafayette, LouisianaNo. 1 seed LSU (53-9)No. 2 seed Arizona St. (40-18)No. 3 seed *Louisiana-Lafayette (49-11)No. 4 seed Massachusetts (52-11)No. 5 seed Mississippi State (35-29)No. 6 seed Northwestern State (45-23)Seed No. 4 - May 16-19 at Fresno, CaliforniaNo. 1 seed Cal St. Fullerton (50-11)No. 2 seed Stanford (43-18)No. 3 seed California (48-19)No. 4 seed *Fresno St. (49-18)No. 5 seed Pacific (Cal.) (42-15)No. 6 seed Evansville (34-25)Seed No. 5 - May 16-19 at Norman, OklahomaNo. 1 seed Texas (46-11)No. 2 seed *Oklahoma (44-14)No. 3 seed Texas A&M (38-16)No. 4 seed Arkansas (32-26)No. 5 seed Utah (30-34)No. 6 seed Army (30-17-1)Seed No. 6 - May 16-19 at Ann Arbor, MichiganNo. 1 seed Washington (43-16)No. 2 seed *Michigan (46-9)No. 3 seed Ohio State (53-12)No. 4 seed Central Michigan (38-14)No. 5 seed Canisius (33-14)No. 6 seed Oakland (24-35-1)Seed No. 7 - May 16-19 at Iowa City, Iowa No. 1 seed Nebraska (45-12)No. 2 seed Oregon State (38-23)No. 3 seed Notre Dame (41-15)No. 4 seed *Iowa (35-18) No. 5 seed Wisconsin (31-20)No. 6 seed Illinois-Chicago (42-20)Seed No. 8 - May 16-19 at Tallahassee, FloridaNo. 1 seed Florida Atlantic (59-11)No. 2 seed Alabama (46-19)No. 3 seed *Florida State (49-17)No. 4 seed Auburn (38-25)No. 5 seed Georgia Tech (47-16)No. 6 seed Chattanooga (40-13)Teams advancing to the Women's College World Series (WCWS), May 23-27 at the Amateur Sports Association's (ASA) Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, will be advanced into the WCWS bracket according to the overall regional seeding (i.e., regional No. 1 winner will be seed No.1). CHAMPIONSHIP STRUCTURE: The Division I championship provides for a field of 48 teams. Six teams will participate at each of eight regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. Eight teams will be seeded and each of the seeded teams will be placed at one of the regional sites. The regional winners advance to the WCWS, an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. (Note: The championship final is a single game final.) Regionals will be conducted May 16-19 on the campuses of competing institutions. The WCWS will be conducted May 23-27 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. SELECTION PROCESS: The NCAA Division I Women's Softball Committee selected teams from the following eight regions to participate in the championship: Central, East, Northeast, South, Mideast, Midwest, West and Pacific. Twenty-two conferences have been granted automatic qualification for the 2002 championship. Four conferences will participate in a play-in to determine the remaining two automatic berths. SEEDING, SITE SELECTION: Seeded teams were placed in the bracket, and the remaining selected teams were placed in their most proximate geographic regions. The committee maintained the ability to balance the bracket and/or avoid first-round (defined as the first three games of the regional tournament) conference match-ups by moving a team to another region when necessary, but flights could not be created in doing so. Top-seeded teams were not guaranteed to host a regional because site selection was based on geographic location.