As part of our in-depth preseason college softball coverage, today we dive into the PAC-12 and forecast what could be in store for the league during the 2023 season.
For our remaining Conference Forecasts in 2023, we’ve also added a team-by-team breakdown and analysis of every program in the conference. Check that out in Section XI below.
1. Conference Breakdown
Arizona State won the PAC-12 regular season title a year ago, finishing one game ahead of UCLA in the regular-season standings. The Sun Devils and Bruins, along with Washington, were the PAC teams selected to host a regional in the NCAA tournament.
Now, in the tournament, there were other teams that made noise. Arizona and Oregon State were regional 3-seeds at SEC-hosted regionals, only to make impressive postseason runs all the way to the Women’s College World Series. Fellow-unseeded Stanford also made some noise of their own, upsetting Alabama in the Tuscaloosa regional and hosting an all-PAC Super Regional against Oregon State in Palo Alto.
The same nine teams still make up the current PAC-12 softball offering – Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, Utah, and Washington.
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II. Award Predictions
Player of the Year:Â Baylee Klingler, Washington
Pitcher of the Year: Megan Faraimo, UCLA
Coach of the Year: Jessica Allister, Stanford
Conference Champions: UCLA Bruins
