This year’s softball team was the best UCLA team I’d
ever seen. That may sound weird considering the Bruins were
eliminated from the Women’s College World Series on
Sunday.
But it’s true.
UCLA hasn’t gotten worse. It’s just that the rest of
the country has gotten better.
In the past, I’ve seen greats like Stacey Nuveman, Natasha
Watley and Keira Goerl play at UCLA.
This year’s team was better than any of the championship
teams those players were on. The top-ranked Bruins this year had
great hitters one through nine, played stellar defense, and had one
of the top five pitchers in the nation with Anjelica Selden. They
also possessed the intangibles ““ experience, clutch players
and a deep bench.
But the competition is different now.
The parity in college softball is greater than ever. In the
past, there were only a handful of teams with a legitimate chance
to win a national title, usually just UCLA and a couple of other
West Coast teams.
At the start of the NCAA Tournament a few weeks ago, many teams
from all over the country had legitimate championship hopes.
The team that beat UCLA on Sunday, Northwestern, never had a
real chance at the national title before this year, and is now
playing in the NCAA Championship Series. A year ago, Michigan won
the national title, becoming the first team ever from east of the
Mississippi River to win a softball title.
Other nontraditional powers such as Texas, Tennessee and Alabama
have become some of the best teams in the country in recent
years.
The parity isn’t only due to teams in the eastern part of
the country getting better. Nontraditional teams in the West are
getting better as well.
Just look at the Pac-10. Arizona State and Oregon State have had
years where they were at the bottom of the conference, yet both
qualified for this year’s World Series.
Cal, Stanford and Washington, three programs that often make it
to the World Series, all lost either in regionals or super
regionals.
Programs away from the West Coast have started spending money
and putting emphasis on softball.
Just look at the Southeastern Conference, home of Tennessee,
Alabama, Louisiana State, Georgia, Florida and Auburn ““ six
teams that were ranked this season.
The SEC didn’t even exist in softball 10 years ago, first
starting conference play in softball in 1997. Two SEC teams made it
to this year’s World Series, establishing the SEC as one of
the best conferences in the country after the Pac-10.
Back in the old days, softball powerhouses like UCLA and Arizona
didn’t have to worry much about competition from conferences
like the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten.
But now the Big Ten may have a team win the national
championship for the second year in a row, which would have been
unthinkable a few years ago.
The expansion of the postseason, both in the number of rounds
and the number of teams competing, has also helped the sport grow
and narrow the gap between the powerhouses and the rest of the
teams.
Four years ago, only 48 teams made it to the tournament, rather
than of 64. And this was only the second year of the super
regionals format, creating an extra, tough weekend the top teams
must get through to advance to the World Series.
Teams like UCLA and Arizona will likely always be strong and
usually be in contention for a national title. It just won’t
be as easy for them as it used to. The other teams in the country
have caught up.
E-mail Quiñonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.