The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. The eight teams of the WCWS play a double-elimination tournament until just two teams remain. These two teams compete in a best-of-three series to determine the Division I WCWS National Champion. Previous WCWS losses do not factor into the best-of-three championship series, and the first team to win two of three games is declared the National Champion.
College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is normally played by men.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the intercollegiate athletic programs of Eastern Illinois University (EIU) located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The Panthers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Championship Subdivision. EIU's colors are blue and gray. Selected as the team mascot in 1930, EIU's panther was informally known as "Billy" for many years and was officially named "Billy the Panther" in 2008. Panther teams have won five NCAA national championships in three sports. The Panthers also won the 1969 NAIA men's soccer title.
The NCAA Division I softball tournament is held annually in May/June and features 64 college softball teams in the United States, culminating in the Women's College World Series (WCWS), which is played in Oklahoma City.
The Lamar Cardinals and Lady Cardinals refers to the college athletics teams of Lamar University, in Beaumont, Texas. The Cardinals and Lady Cardinals teams compete in seventeen NCAA Division I sports as a member of the Southland Conference. The Cardinals rejoined the Southland after spending the 2021–22 athletic year in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
The AIAW women's basketball tournament was a national tournament for women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States, held annually from 1972 to 1982. The winners of the AIAW tournaments from 1972 to 1981 are recognized as the national champions for those years.
The Alabama–Huntsville Chargers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Alabama in Huntsville, located in Huntsville, Alabama, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Chargers have primarily competed in the Gulf South Conference since the 1993–94 academic year.
The Cal State East Bay Pioneers are the athletic teams that represent California State University, East Bay, located in Hayward, California, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) for most of their sports since the 2009–10 academic year; while its women's water polo teams compete in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The Pioneers previously competed in the California Pacific Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1998–99 to 2008–09.
The Sam Houston Bearkats softball team represents Sam Houston State University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in Conference USA. The Bearkats are currently led by head coach Garrett Valis. The team plays its home games at the Bearkat Softball Complex located on the university's campus.
The NCAA Division II Softball Championship is the annual tournament hosted by the NCAA to determine the national champion of women's college softball among Division II members in the United States and Canada. The final rounds of the tournament are also referred to as the NCAA Division II Women's College World Series. The tournament has been held annually since 1982.
The NCAA Division III softball tournament is the annual tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the team champion of women's college softball among its Division III programs in the United States. The final portion of the tournament is also called the Division III Women's College World Series.
The finals of the 1982 NCAA Division I softball tournament were held from May 27 through May 30. 16 Division I college softball teams met in the NCAA tournament's first round at campus sites. After having played their way through the regular season and first round, the eight advancing teams played in the NCAA Women's College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. UCLA won the title. Historian Bill Plummer III wrote, "With their 77-8 season record, Texas A&M could have been a contender in Omaha − maybe even the top seed − against perennial softball powers like UCLA and Fresno State. The Aggies had been invited to the NCAA's first national tournament, but chose not to go. A&M coach Bob Brock had high respect for the eleven-year-old AIAW, even as the NCAA began to overshadow it. Out of a sense of loyalty to the AIAW, Brock said, his school chose the 1982 Norman championship over the NCAA's first in Omaha."
The 1982 AIAW Women's College World Series was held from May 20 through May 25 in Norman, Oklahoma. The final two games were postponed by rain for two days. Twelve Division I college softball teams met in what was to become the last AIAW softball tournament of that organization's history. After playing their way through the regular season and regional tournaments, the 12 advancing teams met for the AIAW Division I college softball championship. Days later, Oklahoma State went on to participate also in the NCAA WCWS tournament in Omaha. In 1982, the Division I softball tournaments of both the AIAW and the NCAA were called "Women's College World Series." That moniker has been used for the annual topmost-level collegiate women's softball tournaments since the first one in 1969. Historian Bill Plummer III wrote, "With their 77-8 season record, Texas A&M could have been a contender in Omaha − maybe even the top seed − against perennial softball powers like UCLA and Fresno State. The Aggies had been invited to the NCAA's first national tournament, but chose not to go. A&M coach Bob Brock had high respect for the eleven-year-old AIAW, even as the NCAA began to overshadow it. Out of a sense of loyalty to the AIAW, Brock said, his school chose the 1982 Norman championship over the NCAA's first in Omaha."
The 1982 AIAW National Division I Basketball Championship was held on March 21–28, 1982. Sixteen teams participated, and Rutgers University was crowned champion of the tournament. The host site for the Final Four was The Palestra on the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia.
The 1983 NCAA Division I softball tournament were held in May at the end of the 1983 NCAA Division I softball season. Sixteen Division I college softball teams competed in the NCAA tournament's first round, which consisted of eight regionals with two teams each. The winner of each region, a total of eight teams, advanced to the 1983 Women's College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The 1983 Women's College World Series was the second NCAA-sponsored championship in the sport of college softball at the Division I level. The event was held in Omaha, Nebraska from May 25 through May 29 and marked the conclusion of the 1983 NCAA Division I softball season. Texas A&M, following up its 1982 AIAW WCWS title, won the championship by defeating Cal State Fullerton 2–1 in the final game.
The 1982 AIAW women's college slow-pitch softball championship was held in Graham, North Carolina, near Raleigh, on May 13–15. Twelve college softball teams met in the second and last AIAW national slow-pitch softball tournament. The AIAW conducted only two slow-pitch softball national championships, in 1981 and 1982, as the NCAA sought to and eventually did vanquish the women's collegiate athletic organization. The Amateur Softball Association later held two collegiate slow-pitch championship tournaments in 1983 and 1984.
The 1982 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament was the inaugural tournament hosted by the NCAA to determine the team national champion of women's collegiate basketball among its Division II membership in the United States. The 1982 AIAW Division II championship was a separate tournament.
The 1982 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament was the inaugural tournament hosted by the NCAA to determine the national champion of NCAA Division III women's collegiate basketball in the United States. The 1982 AIAW Division III championship was a separate tournament.
The 1982 NAIA women's basketball tournament was the second annual tournament held by the NAIA to determine the national champion of women's college basketball among its members in the United States and Canada.
The 1983 NCAA Division II softball tournament was the second annual postseason tournament hosted by the NCAA to determine the national champion of softball among its Division II members in the United States, held at the end of the 1982 NCAA Division II softball season.
