12-Team NISC Bracket Announced for Postseason Tournament’s Return

The 12-team field has been announced for the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) postseason tournament.

After debuting in 2017, the NISC will mark its 4th tournament installment this season; the postseason tournament did not take place in either 2020 or 2021.

In previous years, the tournament has taken a regional-based approach including the first round being hosted at school sites. This year, every NISC game will be held in one site, at the TC Colorado Field in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Four top-seed teams earn first-round byes in the NISC tournament; Virginia, Baylor, UNLV, and Central Arkansas make up seeds 1-4 and will earn those byes.

Other participating teams, in order of seed, include #5 George Washington; #6 North Alabama; #7 Rutgers; #8 Stephen F. Austin; #9 Bowling Green; #10 UC San Diego; #11 Tarleton State; and #12 Kansas.

Criteria for selection to the NISC field included: Teams had to have an RPI in the national top 100 or have a winning record if its RPI was greater than 100. Conference record, results against the RPI Top 50, last 10 games, notable wins, upset losses and player injuries also were taken into consideration.

The double-elimination tournament will begin with the first two rounds of games on Friday, May 20th and Saturday, May 21st.

Friday, May 20 (all times Mountain):
Bowling Green vs. Stephen F. Austin, 8:30 a.m.
Kansas vs. George Washington, 11 a.m.
UC San Diego vs. Rutgers, 1:30 p.m.
Tarleton State vs. North Alabama, 4 p.m.

Saturday, May 21
TBA vs. Virginia, 8:30 a.m.
TBA vs. Central Arkansas, 11 a.m.
TBA vs. Baylor, 1:30 p.m.
TBA vs. UNLV, 4 p.m.

The event concludes with the Championship Round on May 25-26, with the last four teams competing for the title.

Previous NISC champions include UT-Arlington (2019), Loyola Marymount (2018), and Liberty (2017).