FSU softball No. 15 overall seed hosting Regionals, Potential rematch with Oklahoma?

FSU softball (43-14) learned it will host a regional for the 10th consecutive season Sunday night as the No. 15 overall seed. The Noles were the second and only ACC team to earn a hosting bid, with ACC regular season and tournament champion Duke as the No. 10 overall seed. The Noles will host some familiar teams in the Tallahassee Regional. 

The Noles will take on The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (42-14) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The game will air on the ACC Network. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the Auburn (27-19-1) and UCF (30-23). FSU faced UCF in the 2023 regionals last year and won 5-1 before going through the Super Regionals and ultimately the NCAA Championship against No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma. FSU lost two competitive games but could face the three-time defending champs and No. 2 overall seed in the Super Regionals. FSU didn't finish the season strong, going 4-3 in their last seven entering the Tallahassee Regionals. Aside, from a couple of offensive explosions, it's been the offense that's been missing for the most part, especially considering FSU has been with Makenna Reid for the better part of two to three weeks. There's no timetable on when Reid might be back in action, but her return would give the Noles a better shot at making a run deep in the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma is an incredible team, but it's not the same dominant team they faced in the championship series last year.   

The ACC got very little respect in the NCAA Tournament seedings. Duke had the No. 3 RPI nationally and received the No. 10 overall seed. FSU softball has the No. 13 RPI nationally and was the No. 15 overall seed. Arkansas got the No. 12 seed and had an RPI of 14. Alabama beat FSU, but they had a lower RPI and got the No. 14 seed. FSU beat Stanford and had nearly an identical record, and Stanford got the No. 8 seed with the No. 5 RPI nationally. Louisiana had an RPI of 11 and got the No. 13 seed overall. They didn't even win the SunBelt Tournament. It's crazy that we can point to softball as another reason FSU has to leave the ACC as soon as possible.