2016 NCAA Division 1 Softball Conference Tournaments
The regular season is coming to a close for the 2016 NCAA Division 1 Softball season, but there is still a chance for teams to make the NCAA Softball Tournament with a win in the Conference Tournament. Below are the tournaments for all conferences in NCAA Division 1 Softball.
Five conferences do not have a post season tournament and instead will award their automatic bid to the regular season champion. Those five conferences are the Big 12, Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, and West Coast.
The regular season champion is included below for each conference because there are several cases where the top seed in the conference is hosting the tournament. In all, there are 32 automatic bids handed out while another 32 at-large bids will be determined by the Softball Selection Committee.
| Conference | Regular Season Champ | Tournament Champ | Dates | Location | Host |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American East | Binghamton* | Maine | May 11 - 14 | Binghamton, New York | Binghamton |
| American | South Florida | Tulsa | May 12 - 14 | Tulsa, Oklahoma | Tulsa |
| ACC | Florida State | Florida State | May 12 - 14 | Raleigh, North Carolina | NC State |
| Atlantic 10 | Fordham | Fordham | May 11 - 15 | Arlington, Virginia | George Washington |
| Atlantic Sun | Florida Gulf Coast | South Carolina Upstate | May 11 - 14 | Fort Myers, Florida | Florida Gulf Coast |
| Big 12 | Oklahoma | No Post Season Tournament | |||
| Big East | DePaul | Butler | May 13 - 14 | Rosemont, Illinois | DePaul |
| Big Sky | Weber State* | Weber State | May 12 - 14 | Ogden Utah | Weber State |
| Big South | Longwood | Longwood | May 11 - 14 | Rock Hill, South Carolina | Winthrop |
| Big Ten | Michigan | Minnesota | May 12 - 14 | University Park, Pennsylvania | Penn State |
| Big West | Cal State Fullerton | No Post Season Tournament | |||
| Colonial | James Madison* | James Madison | May 11 - 13 | Harrisonburg, Virginia | James Madison |
| C-USA | Florida Atlantic | Florida Atlantic | May 11 - 14 | Denton, Texas | North Texas |
| Horizon | Illinois-Chicago | Valparaiso | May 11 - 14 | Chicago, Illinois | Illinois-Chicago |
| Ivy | North: Harvard South: Princeton | Princeton | May 7 - 8 | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Harvard |
| Mid-American | Kent State | Miami (OH) | May 11 - 14 | Akron, Ohio | Akron |
| Metro Atlantic | Marist* | Marist | May 11 - 14 | Poughkeepsie, New York | Marist |
| Mid-Eastern | Delaware State | Florida A&M | May 12 - 14 | Ormond Beach, Florida | Bethune-Cookman |
| Missouri Valley | Wichita State | Wichita State | May 12 - 14 | Carbondale, Illinois | Southern Illinois |
| Mountain West | Fresno State | No Post Season Tournament | |||
| Northeast | Long Island University* | Long Island University | May 12 - 14 | Brooklyn, New York | LIU Brooklyn |
| Ohio Valley | Jacksonville State | Jacksonville State | May 11 - 14 | Oxford, Alabama | Neutral Site |
| Pac-12 | Oregon | No Post Season Tournament | |||
| Patriot | Lehigh* | Boston University | May 12 - 15 | Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | Lehigh |
| SEC | Florida | Auburn | May 11 - 14 | Starkville, Mississippi | Mississippi State |
| Southern | Samford | Samford | May 11 - 14 | Greensboro, North Carolina | UNC Greensboro |
| Southland | McNeese State | McNeese State | May 11 - 13 | Lake Charles, Louisiana | McNeese State |
| SWAC | Texas Southern | Alabama State | May 11 - 14 | Irondale, Alabama | Neutral Site |
| Summit | North Dakota State | North Dakota State | May 11 - 14 | Fargo, North Dakota | North Dakota State |
| Sun Belt | Louisiana Lafayette | Louisiana Lafayette | May 11 - 14 | Mobile, Alabama | South Alabama |
| WAC | New Mexico State | Cal State Bakersfield | May 12 - 14 | Seattle, Washington | Seattle University |
| West Coast | BYU | No Post Season Tournament |
* Denotes Highest Seed Hosts Conference Tournament
As the conference tournament champions are known, the table above will be filled out. The conference tournaments listed above will help determine the field for the 2016 NCAA Division 1 Softball tournament. We will find out which teams made the tournament on Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 10 PM Eastern Time on ESPNU with the Selection Show.
The 2016 NCAA Softball Tournament will begin on May 20, 2016 at 16 campus sites in the Regional round in a double elimination format. Each regional will have four teams. The 16 teams who win their regional will move on to the Super Regional where they will compete in a best-of-three series to be held between May 26 and May 29.
The 8 winners of the Super Regional round will move on to the 2016 Women’s College World Series to be played in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma starting on Thursday, June 2. The Championship Series will begin Monday, June 6 with a best-of-three format to determine the winner of the 2016 Women’s College World Series.