The Southeastern Conference received six of the top eight seeds in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship when the 64-team field was revealed on Sunday, including Alabama at No. 1 and defending national champion Texas at No. 2.
In all, the SEC got 12 of its 15 teams into the field.
Regional play starts Friday, with the top 16 seeds hosting. The eight teams that get through super regionals the next week will play in the Women's College World Series, which starts May 28 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
Alabama (49-7) didn't catch a break in the seeding — the Crimson Tide could face Belmont superstar pitcher Maya Johnson in regional play. Johnson leads the nation with a 0.66 earned run average and was the No. 3 overall pick in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League draft.
Texas (42-10) returns pitcher Teagan Kavan, who was the Most Outstanding Player of the Women's College World Series last year and led the Longhorns to the SEC Tournament title this season. The Longhorns beat Alabama in the SEC championship game.
Oklahoma (48-8) is the No. 3 overall seed, despite losing in its opening game at the SEC Tournament. The Sooners have won four of the past five national titles and reached the semifinals last year. Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso, also the USA national coach, has won eight national championships.
Nebraska is seeded fourth. The Cornhuskers (46-6) beat UCLA to win the Big Ten tournament title on Saturday. Nebraska's Jordy Frahm led Oklahoma to a national title in 2023 as Jordy Bahl before transferring, then later getting married and changing her name.
The SEC has Arkansas (42-11) as the No. 5 seed, Florida (48-10) at No. 6 and Tennessee (42-10) at No. 7.
UCLA (47-8) is the No. 8 seed. Megan Grant just set the single-season record with 38 home runs. Jordan Woolery, who bats behind her at third in the lineup, has 107 RBIs and was the Big Ten Player of the Year.
Florida State (49-8) is No. 9 overall. The Seminoles won the national title in 2018 and were runner-up in 2021 and 2023.
Texas Tech fell all the way to No. 11 overall, despite a 52-6 record. Star pitcher NiJaree Canady led the Red Raiders to the championship series last year. She has more help this year, including pitcher Kaitlyn Terry.
The other top 16 seeds that will host include No. 10 Georgia (38-18), No. 12 Duke (39-14), No. 13 Oklahoma State (38-15), No. 14 Oregon (40-12), No. 15 Texas A&M (36-17) and No. 16 LSU (37-17).
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FILE - Texas Tech starting pitcher/relief pitcher Nijaree Canady (24) during an NCAA softball game against CS Fullerton on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Cathedral City, Calif. (AP Photo/Mike Buscher,File)
FILE - Tennessee starting pitcher/relief pitcher Karlyn Pickens (23) during an NCAA softball Women's College World Series game, Thursday, May 29, 2025 in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis,File)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Knicks fans raised their brooms outside the arena and pumped up the volume once inside. They poured in by the thousands and serenaded the may-as-well-be home team in the waning moments of another lopsided playoff victory with chants of “Knicks in four! Knicks in four!”
Here's a more substantial number than four for the Knicks: Try winning in the playoffs by almost 20 points a game.
Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns — you too, Deuce McBride and Landry Shamet — have stretched New York's steamroll through the postseason into the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year.
The 76ers were but a pesky speed bump for the Knicks as they rolled to a series sweep and their seventh straight postseason win overall under coach Mike Brown.
Perhaps the only drawback from the Knicks soundly thumping the 76ers 144-114 on Sunday is the expected lengthy layoff before New York gets a crack at either Cleveland or Detroit in the conference finals. Detroit leads Cleveland 2-1 in the series with Game 4 set for Monday.
“Yeah, you like the rhythm that you're in,” Brown said. “But if we expect to be who we're capable of being, we'll find a way to stay consistent with what we're doing, whether it's the energy level, the effort level, or embracing-slash-focusing on the details that we have to be able to understand in order to get a win.”
The Knicks, as the kids say, understood the assignment and refused to let Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and the rest of a Sixers team brimming with confidence after rallying from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round to beat Boston ever pose a serious threat at pulling off a second straight upset.
As for the time off, the Knicks could use a few extra days of rest, especially for injured forward OG Anunoby. Anunoby missed Games 3 and 4 with a strained right hamstring and remained day to day. The 6-foot-7 Anunoby, who is considered the Knicks’ top defender, is averaging 21.4 points in the postseason.
That type of monster production is tricky to replace and in the long haul — of which the Knicks expect to be part of this season — it just may be if Anunoby misses a serious amount of time. In a short sample size, the Knicks thrived, especially against a emotionally flattened Sixers team on the brink of a sweep.
McBride, once known for his defense but who has since blossomed into a reliable outside threat, started for Anunoby and essentially won the clincher in the first quarter. McBride hit seven 3-pointers, going 4 for 4 in the first quarter when the Knicks sank 11 of 13, and scored 25 points overall. With Knicks fans on their feet and exclaiming “Deuuuce,” McBride hit one, two, three, four — four! — 3-pointers in succession for a 20-6 lead and the South Philadelphia arena rocking like it was Madison Square Garden.
“I definitely knew the Knicks had crazy fans,” McBride said.
The hype of the Knicks' fans takeover in Philadelphia was very much real and reached fever pitch levels in Game 4.
Spike Lee and Timothée Chalamet were among the A-list Knicks fans that had tickets to Friday night's game in Philly. In Game 4, fans found their way around the Sixers' supposed ticket-buying barriers about as easily as the Knicks hit 3-pointers and passed the eye test of taking up the overwhelming bulk of the 19,746 fans inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Embiid's pleas ahead of the series for Sixers fans not to sell their tickets to Knicks fans fell on deaf ears and led to deafening roars for New York. Knicks fans amusingly printed off photos of Embiid getting posterized by Mitch Robinson on a Game 3 dunk. Knicks fans waved the photos at the oft-injured Embiid while he shot free throws, and they yelled at him “Mr. Glass,” a fictionalized movie character with brittle bone disease.
“I used to think Philly was a sports town, I don’t know if it is anymore,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said.
Home-court edge, even on the road, only means so much in the playoffs.
What really matters can often be found in the box score.
The Knicks had 33 assists on 49 baskets in Game 4 and added to their streak of turning close-out games into blowout games. After beating Atlanta by 51 points to clinch their first-round series win, they led by as many as 44 points in Game 4 against the Sixers and won by 30.
The Knicks’ 19.4 point-per-game margin of victory is the largest through two rounds since the playoffs went to 16 teams in 1984.
The Knicks haven’t reached the NBA Finals since 1999 and haven’t won the championship since 1973. Yet, they've turned the postseason into their playground and are listed as the favorite to emerge from the East and are behind only defending champion Oklahoma City and San Antonio to win the title.
“We're still writing out story,” Brunson said.
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New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown screams during the first half of Game 2 in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Philadelphia 76ers' Vj Edgecombe, bottom, goes up for a shot against New York Knicks' Josh Hart during the first half of Game 4 in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
New York Knicks' fans hold up a photo as Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid takes a free-throw shot during the first half of Game 4 against the New York Knicks in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
New York Knicks' Miles McBride reacts after scoring during the second half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson reacts after scoring during the second half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a second-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, May 10, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
