Florida State softball enters the 2026 NCAA Tournament riding the momentum of an ACC regular-season and tournament double, armed with a 49-8 record and a No. 9 national seed, but also carrying the weight of five consecutive postseasons that ended just short of the ultimate goal.<\/p>\n
The Seminoles will host the Tallahassee Regional for the 12th consecutive season, becoming one of just four programs nationally \u2014 along with the Alabama Crimson Tide<\/a>, Oklahoma Sooners<\/a>, and UCLA Bruins<\/a> \u2014 to host a regional in each of the past 12 seasons. Florida State opens regional play Friday at noon on ESPNU against Stetson, with UCF and Jacksonville State also in the field.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Seminoles enter with a program r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that would make most coaches envious, but the last five postseasons paint a complicated portrait of a team that can reach the mountaintop, and just as quickly tumble down it. Here is how their last five postseason runs have gone.<\/p>\n 2021 \u2014 Runner-Up<\/p>\n Florida State made its case as one of the premier programs in the country, reaching the Women\u2019s College World Series finals before falling to Oklahoma. The Sooners needed all three games to dispatch the Seminoles in that championship series, winning Games Two and Three after FSU took Game One. It was a heartbreaking finish for a team that had played its way to the sport\u2019s grandest stage.<\/p>\n 2022 \u2014 Regional Shock<\/p>\n Coming off the runner-up finish, expectations were sky-high for an FSU squad that entered the tournament as the No. 2 national seed with a 54-7 record. What followed was one of the most stunning exits in program history. The Seminoles were eliminated in the regional round for the first time since 2012, dropping a pair of games to Mississippi State on the final day at JoAnne Graf Field \u2014 including a 4-3 loss in a winner-take-all contest that ended their season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 2023 \u2014 Runner-Up Again<\/p>\n FSU bounced back with another WCWS run that ended in familiar fashion. Oklahoma defeated the Seminoles again in the championship series, this time 5-3 and 3-1. Two national runner-up finishes in three seasons is a remarkable achievement \u2014 and a remarkable source of frustration.<\/p>\n 2024 \u2014 Super Regional Exit<\/p>\n As the No. 5 national seed, FSU advanced past the regional round before running into an Oklahoma buzzsaw once more. The Sooners swept the Seminoles in the Norman Super Regional by scores of 11-3 and 4-2, punching their ticket to a fourth straight national championship appearance.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 2025 \u2014 Super Regional Exit<\/p>\n The Seminoles, again seeded fifth nationally, were swept by No. 12 Texas Tech<\/a> in the Super Regional, falling 3-0 and 2-1 \u2014 an upset that ended what had been a strong regular season and raised legitimate questions heading into the offseason.<\/p>\n The 2026 Opportunity<\/p>\n This year\u2019s squad enters the tournament having won both the ACC regular-season and tournament titles, with the program\u2019s 20th ACC Tournament Championship secured just days before the selection show. Despite the strong r\u00e9sum\u00e9, FSU narrowly missed a top-8 national seed, passed over by the committee in favor of UCLA \u2014 a team that did not win its conference tournament and had lost to the Seminoles earlier this season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The slight may serve as added motivation. Florida State has everything it needs to make a deep run: a talented and experienced roster, ace Jazzy Francik, who allowed just one earned run over her last 22 innings heading into the postseason, and the comfort of playing at home in front of a crowd that has powered the Seminoles to a 31-2 home record this season.<\/p>\n Whether this is the year FSU finally converts postseason presence into a national championship will be the defining question of a 2026 tournament run that begins Friday in Tallahassee. For a program that has twice been one series win away from the title in the last five years, the hunger has never been more palpable.<\/p>\n Follow us\u00a0@FSUWire<\/a>\u00a0on X and like our page on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to follow ongoing coverage of\u00a0Florida State<\/a>\u00a0news, notes, and opinions.<\/p>\n This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: FSU softball: Recapping last five NCAA Tournament runs<\/a><\/p>\n