The top NCAA softball storylines for the 2025 season

On Feb. 6, the 2025 NCAA softball season will get underway. Softball, one of the NCAA's most popular and talent-saturated women’s sports, has generated an astonishing past few years, highlighted by four straight championships secured by the Oklahoma Sooners. But the most recent offseason threw some curveballs (pun intended) into the sport’s landscape. The Sooners’ changed roster, the ascension of teams like Texas, Oklahoma State, and Florida, plus conference realignment makes this season anyone’s to win. Here are some big stories, players, and coaches to watch:

Can Oklahoma five-peat?

It’s never been done before, but if any squad can win five championships in a row, it’s likely to be the Oklahoma Sooners, led by storied coach Patty Gasso. But, if the Sooners are honest with themselves, they know they’re not the same team they have been these past few years. They were ranked third in the NCAA’s preseason poll, and, per D1Softball, a “large group of transfers and freshmen replaced a 10-member graduating class.” The Sooners will especially miss the talents of former pitcher Kelly Maxwell, who went 5–0 during the 2024 tournament and posted a 1.88 ERA. The Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player leaves big shoes to fill.

Is it finally Texas’s time?

The Texas Longhorns, who finished in second place in 2024, nabbed the first place slot in the first ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. The Longhorns also finished as the runners-up in the 2022 season, losing to, of course, the Oklahoma Sooners. Players like Reese Atwood, the 2024 leader in RBIs (83) and three-time Big 12 Conference player of the week, and head coach Mike White, who has led the Longhorns since 2019, are looking to exact revenge.In his tenure, he has led the Longhorns deep into the postseason during his five seasons (2020 canceled due to COVID-19); maybe this year, with Oklahoma at a slight disadvantage, Texas can go all the way.

Another fun detail to watch for this season is how conference realignment will affect the rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas. 2025 will be the first season where the Sooners and Longhorns compete in the SEC. The former Big-12 rivals will take their “nearly-impenetrable strength to the nation’s deepest league,” writes Justin McLeod for D1Softball.

Can anyone really compete with the top two?

While the rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas has somewhat defined college softball in the past few years, plenty of other teams can give each powerhouse a real run for their money. One team that will almost certainly go for a deep run is Florida. The Gators, who came in second place in the coaches’ poll but first in the D1Softball poll, have slugger Jocelyn Erickson to rely on as the season begins. Erickson, the 2024 National Fastpitch Coaches Association National Player of the Year, played her first season at Oklahoma before transferring to Florida in 2023 in order to be a full-time catcher. But it’s her strength at the plate that could prove transformative for the Gators, as was proven by her .382 average and .494 OBP in 2024. Erickson wants another trophy, and in a year where the top team – and her former – is somewhat handicapped, anything is possible.

Can NiJaree Canady change Texas Tech?

Pitcher NiJaree Canady might be the hottest thing in NCAA softball right now. The 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year posted a 24–7 record with five saves in her sophomore season at Stanford and led the country with a 0.73 earned run average and 337 strikeouts. So fans were surprised, to say the least when Canady entered the transfer portal and left Stanford for Texas Tech. The Masked Riders of Texas Tech have “only been to the NCAA tournament six times in program history and have never made the Women’s College World Series,” writes Jenni Carlson of the Oklahoman. Carlson describes the Masked Riders as a longtime afterthought in NCAA softball history, but in the first coaches’ poll of 2025, the Riders placed No. 10. Clearly, Canady is already changing the game.

As for why she transferred? Texas Tech, an NIL hotbed, may have made her an offer that no one could refuse.

Can Jordy Bahl make Nebraska relevant?

Coming in at No. 16 in the preseason poll, the Nebraska Cornhuskers aren’t exactly peripheral. However, the major boost they were expected to gain from pitcher Jordy Bahl when she returned home to Nebraska after two seasons with Oklahoma was hampered by her season-ending ACL tear in early 2024. But, as McLeod reports for D1 Softball, “Bahl is back and healthy in 2025,” and with her presence back on the mound, the Huskers can easily break into the Top 10.