Texas State softball earned an at-large bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday, being placed in the Gainesville regional. The group consists of No. 6 Florida, Florida A&M and Georgia Tech, with whom Texas State will open the regional.
The Bobcats (38-20, 16-8 in conference) lost in the Sun Belt Championship game Saturday night, falling to the South Alabama Jaguars. But the rest of Texas State’s resume included wins over Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Clemson, which contributed to its final RPI ranking of 31. It finished third in the Sun Belt regular season, but recorded series wins over South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe.
Florida is the No. 5 team in RPI rankings, having gone 48-10 overall and tying for second in the Southeastern Conference in the regular season. Georgia Tech went 30-27 and finished ninth in the ACC regular season standings. The winner of the Gainesville regional will go on to face whoever emerges from the Lubbock regional, which consists of Texas Tech, Mississippi State, Washington and Brown.
This is Texas State’s 12th tournament bid under head coach Ricci Woodard and its fourth since 2021. It’s the first time the Bobcats will be leaving the state for a regional since 2018, when they traveled to California for the Los Angeles Regional.