2026 Women’s College World Series: Schedule, Bracket, Teams, TV Channels & How to Watch WCWS Live

The 2026 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) begins May 28 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, with the final eight teams in NCAA Division I softball competing for a national championship.

Fans will not want to miss a second of what will be an electrifying elite eight tournament. Here’s how to watch it all on TV live.

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When is the Women’s College World Series (WCWS)?

The NCAA Division I Women’s College World Series begins Thursday, May 28 at 12 p.m. ET. The best-of-three championship series begins June 3.

How to Watch the Women’s College World Series

If you can’t make your way to Devon Park in Oklahoma City, ESPN and ABC have exclusive coverage of the 2026 Women’s College World Series. Fans can catch every WCWS game live on:

• ESPN – DIRECTV Ch. 206
• ESPN2 – DIRECTV Ch. 209
• ESPNU– DIRECTV Ch. 208
• ABC – Find your local ABC network

Fans looking to stream the Women’s College World Series without cable can also watch live through ESPN Unlimited, which is included with DIRECTV Signature packages and the MySports^® Genre Pack^®. That gives softball fans access to every game of the WCWS across ESPN networks on smart TVs, laptops, tablets and mobile devices.

Women’s College World Series Schedule & TV Information

The NCAA Division I softball championship kicked off with Super Regionals to determine the final eight teams for the Women’s College World Series.

The final eight teams remaining from the NCAA Division I softball tournament will compete in the Women’s College World Series starting May 28 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. The championship round begins June 3.

Here’s the schedule you need to keep up with all the action on the diamond. Check back here for live updates, scores and updated TV information. All times ET

*if necessary

WCWS Bracket 2026

The 2026 Women’s College World Series bracket features an eight-team double-elimination format before the best-of-three championship series begins on June 3. Fans can follow the updated WCWS bracket throughout the tournament as teams advance through the winner’s and elimination brackets in Oklahoma City.

What is the Format of the NCAA Softball Tournament & Women’s College World Series?

The NCAA Division I Softball Tournament begins with 64 teams competing for a national championship, but the path to the title unfolds across multiple rounds before the final eight teams reach the Women’s College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City.

While fans often use “NCAA Softball Tournament” and “Women’s College World Series” interchangeably, they refer to different stages of the same championship event. The NCAA Tournament includes the Regionals and Super Regionals, while the WCWS is the final round featuring the last eight teams competing for the national title.

Here’s how the NCAA softball tournament format works:

• Regionals Format: 64 teams are divided into 16 four-team brackets hosted by one of the top 16 national seeds. Each site features a double-elimination tournament, with the winner advancing to the Super Regionals.
• Super Regionals Format: The remaining 16 teams compete in eight best-of-three series. The winners move on to the Women’s College World Series.
• Women’s College World Series Format: The final eight teams compete in a double-elimination bracket at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. The final two teams then meet in a best-of-three championship series to determine the NCAA Division I softball national champion.

Teams in the 2026 Women’s College World Series

Here are the teams competing in this year’s WCWS at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (SEC)

Alabama arrives at 49-7 as the top overall seed, led by one of the deepest pitching staffs in the country. Jocelyn Briski went 23-3 with a 1.03 ERA, pitching 17 scoreless innings with 23 strikeouts in the postseason, while freshman Vic Moten went 21-4 with a 1.66 ERA. Alabama’s second-best ERA in the nation sits at 1.48, led by Briski’s 23 wins and 198 strikeouts. Offensively, sophomore transfer Brooke Wells has been the engine of the Alabama offense all year, leading the team with 23 home runs and 65 RBIs, while catcher Alexis Pupillo has batted .401.

No. 2 Texas Longhorns (SEC)

Defending champion Texas enters as the No. 2 overall seed with a strong case for being the best team in the country. The Longhorns finished 47-11 and are making their ninth WCWS appearance, including their third consecutive. Katie Stewart launched her 27th home run of the season in the regional final, ranking third in program history for career homers, while Kayden Henry has been equally dangerous in the lineup. On the mound, junior Teagan Kavan went 25-5 and tossed a complete-game shutout in the Super Regional clincher, her 17th complete game of the year.

No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big Ten)

Nebraska improved to 51-6 on the season — the second-highest win total in program history — after sweeping Oklahoma State in the Super Regional. The Huskers are making their first WCWS appearance since 2013, and they’re riding a 26-game winning streak into Oklahoma City. Their engine is two-way star Jordy Frahm, who leads the Huskers with a 1.14 ERA and a 20-4 record with 12 saves, plus a team-high .416 batting average and 19 home runs in 56 games. As a team, Nebraska bats .334 and scores 7 runs per game.

No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (SEC)

Arkansas is making its first-ever WCWS appearance after years of just missing. The Razorbacks enter at 47-11 behind First-Team All-American pitcher Robyn Herron, who posted a 2.09 ERA across nearly 114 innings with 173 strikeouts. Sophomore Payton Burnham has been equally impressive, going 14-3 with a 1.90 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 103 innings. Third baseman Ella McDowell, also a First-Team All-American, is batting .343 with 11 home runs and 55 RBI. Dakota Kennedy provides additional punch in the lineup.

No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers (SEC)

Tennessee’s path to a national title runs through its pitching staff, which is arguably the best in the country top-to-bottom. The Lady Vols (46-10) carry three legitimately elite arms: Erin Nuwer leads the staff with a 0.99 ERA in 92 innings; Sage Mardjetko sits at 1.12 with 165 strikeouts in 119 innings; and Karlyn Pickens, the No. 1 overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited draft, is 15-7 with a 1.53 ERA and 180 strikeouts. Pickens also holds the NCAA record for fastest pitch ever thrown at 79.4 mph. The Vols need that trio to continue their dominance against the elite lineups they’ll face in Oklahoma City.

No. 8 UCLA Bruins (Big Ten)

UCLA is playing a different sport offensively than the rest of the field. Megan Grant became the first college softball player to hit 40 home runs in a single season, while Jordan Woolery leads the nation with 112 RBIs. As a team, the Bruins set NCAA single-season records in home runs (200), runs scored (651), RBIs (623), total bases (1,355) and extra-base hits (323). Eight different UCLA players have hit double-digit homers, with four recording at least 20, leaving opponents with the impossible task of picking their poison.

No. 11 Texas Tech Red Raiders (Big 12)

Last year’s runner-up, Texas Tech returns to the Women’s College World Series looking to finish the job. The Red Raiders enter Oklahoma City at 57-7 after knocking off sixth-seeded Florida in the Gainesville Super Regional. The staff is anchored by NiJaree Canady, the face of college softball, who went 25-6 with a 1.78 ERA this season and once again proved dominant throughout the postseason. This year, however, Canady has more support around her. UCLA transfer Kaitlyn Terry has emerged as a reliable second option in the circle, giving Texas Tech more pitching depth as it chases the first national title in program history.

Mississippi State Bulldogs (SEC)

The feel-good story of the 2026 tournament. Mississippi State enters the WCWS at 43-19 overall after one of the most impressive postseason runs in the country, defeating Oklahoma in the Super Regional to end the Sooners’ nine-consecutive WCWS appearance streak — the longest active streak in the NCAA. The defining moment came in Game 3, when sophomore right-hander Delainey Everett threw a complete-game shutout to beat Oklahoma 6-0 in one of the greatest pitching performances in program history. Coach Samantha Ricketts, a former All-American who played for Patty Gasso at Oklahoma, became the first former Oklahoma player to defeat her old coach. The Bulldogs join Arkansas as the only first-time WCWS participants in the field.

Who Didn’t Make it to the WCWS?

The biggest story coming out of the Super Regionals was the Oklahoma Sooners. After reaching the final series seven of the last nine years and winning six national titles, Oklahoma will not contend for the trophy this year. Mississippi State handed Oklahoma its first super regional loss since 2019 and kept the Sooners from the WCWS for the first time since 2015.

It’s a remarkable fall for a program that put together one of the best regular seasons in the country — finishing 46-6 with an 18-3 SEC record as the No. 1 ranked team for much of the year. Oklahoma led the nation in batting average and finished second in home runs, with Kai Minor, Lexi McDaniel, Ella Parker and others all hitting above .400. Audrey Lowry was their most reliable arm. But the pitching staff couldn’t hold up in the Super Regional when it mattered most, and a program that won four straight national titles from 2021-24 will watch this WCWS from home for the first time in a decade.

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