The 2025 NCAA softball season is off to the races, with early season stumbles from perennial powerhouses illustrating the sport's growing parity.
No. 6 Tennessee, No. 8 Texas Tech, and No. 10 Oklahoma State all suffered weekend upsets. Tennessee fell 7-1 to No. 17 Nebraska while Texas Tech lost 3-1 to No. 19 Mississippi State in extra innings.
The Cowgirls, subsequently, turned heads during last weekend's Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.
After claiming a 9-6 victory over No. 9 Florida State on Thursday, Oklahoma State then stranded nine baserunners en route to a 6-1 loss to unranked Louisiana Tech on Friday.
After righting the ship with a mercy-rule blowout against Northern Colorado on Friday, the Cowgirls' bats fell short in a run-rule loss to the Seminoles on Saturday.
The 2-2 season start cost Oklahoma State six spots in the rankings, sending them sliding from their preseason No. 4 position.
Top NCAA softball teams take aim at Clearwater's competition
The Cowgirls will have to get right back in the saddle. Oklahoma State will now join six other Top 25 programs in Florida for Thursday's Clearwater Invitational.
No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Texas A&M plus the Cowgirls and Seminoles lead the 16-team lineup. The SEC's No. 12 Alabama, No. 16 Missouri, and No. 24 Kentucky will also compete.
The annual event often serves as a postseason preview. This year's field includes three of last year's Women's College World Series contenders, with 14 represented in the 2024 NCAA tournament.
How to watch NCAA softball at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational
All 40 games at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational will stream live across ESPN platforms. This includes 19 nationally televised matchups.
Clearwater runs Thursday through Sunday, with Oklahoma State kicking off the Top 10 action against UCLA at 3 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage of the Cowgirls vs. the Bruins will air on ESPN2.
College softball is back, with a new-look Oklahoma team kicking off the 2025 NCAA season in pursuit of a fifth-straight Women's College World Series win.
Despite Oklahoma's ongoing dominance, 2025's lineup does promise significantly higher parity than seasons past.
Having graduated a number of last year's stars — including a senior class that snagged four straight national titles — the Sooners enter the season ranked third.
Instead, 2024 runner-up Texas takes the top spot, followed by perennial contenders Florida at No. 2. Both teams enter 2025 with the majority of their rosters from last season intact, earning them an edge over the revamped Sooners.
Texas on top as SEC looms
Still hunting a first national championship, Texas returns with six starters and four of their five 2024 pitchers — including then-freshman phenom Teagan Kavan, who led the team with 20 wins last year.
Meanwhile, last season's Big 12 Player of the Year, junior catcher Reese Atwood, is back to lead the Longhorn offense.
After joining rival Oklahoma in flipping to the SEC this year, Texas is gearing up to meet their new conference foes with the No. 1 target on their backs.
"It's a great honor, to tell you the truth," Texas head coach Mike White said about the preseason ranking. "And now we got to back it up. We’ve had a team that's been called young in the years past, and now we're a little more mature."
"We have a tough slate of games ahead of us, and then, of course, the gauntlet of the SEC is ahead of us," White noted. "We’ve really just got to go play good softball now."
The impact of conference realignment will extend beyond the SEC this season. The sport's historic dynasty No. 6 UCLA is now competing in the Big Ten while No. 4 Oklahoma State is taking over the top spot in the Big 12 rankings.
2025 NCAA softball season takes the field
As multiple teams travel to warm-weather destinations to start the season, the first week of competition showcases a slate of top-ranked matchups.
With a top-tier win already in the books, No. 4 Oklahoma State opened their 2025 campaign with a bang at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge on Thursday. Buoyed by a trio of home runs, the Cowgirls handed No. 12 Florida State a 9-6 loss.
Waiting on deck at this week's NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, are two ranked games featuring superstar pitchers.
First, No. 16 Nebraska ace Jordy Bahl — a two-time NCAA champion with Oklahoma — will likely take the circle against No. 5 Tennessee on Thursday. If she gets the start, it will mark her first game in nearly a year, as the Cornhusker transfer suffered a season-ending ACL injury in last year's opener.
Then on Friday, a revamped No. 10 Texas Tech side will face No. 25 Mississippi State, with former Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady likely leading the charge.
The 2024 National Player of the Year transferred after her sophomore season with the Cardinal, as Texas Tech sealed the deal via a record-shattering $1 million NIL contract.
How to watch this week's Top 25 NCAA softball games
Look for Bahl to lead No. 16 Nebraska against No. 5 Tennessee at 7 PM ET on Thursday, before No. 25 Mississippi State will contend with Canady and No. 10 Texas Tech at 5 PM ET on Friday.
Both games will stream live on the GameChanger app.