A few tidbits from around the nation, as we await the start of super-regionals on Friday...

Northwestern University student radio broadcasters Dan Platt and Howard Tilman preview each of the super-regional series. In my links section on the right, go to Softball Bracketology--WNUR Sports, then when the page comes up, select Bracketology Week 8: Super Regional Edition. Our friendly bracketologists are also keeping a running count of how each conference is doing, complete with lines crossing-out eliminated teams.

The University of Michigan site has a photo essay of the Wolverines' regional-clinching win over Oklahoma last Sunday. UM's upcoming opponent, Tennessee, likewise has pictures from the Vols' win over Louisville to advance.

ESPN.com offers this overview of the past weekend's regionals and upcoming super-regionals. The apparent reference in this piece to Stanford losing to Tulsa in regional play is incorrect, however. As shown in this game-by-game log, the Cardinal's one loss was to Fresno State, against whom Stanford came back to defeat twice to move on.

The UCLA Daily Bruin has a feature article on the school's four softball seniors, who will be seeking their third NCAA title in their four years. With the Bruin men's volleyball and women's water polo teams recently winning national titles, UCLA's cumulative total of NCAA team championships currently stands at 99. Softball could well be the sport that brings UCLA to the century mark!

The opening weekend of NCAA tournament action is now on the books! The 16 surviving teams move on to next weekend's super-regionals (most of them, Friday-Saturday, May 26-27). There are eight "supers," each hosting two teams, who play a two-out-of-three series to see who qualifies for the Women's College World Series.

Here is a link to the official NCAA brackets, updated to reflect who will be meeting in the super-regionals.

In 13 of the 16 regions, things went according to plan, as the designated national seed was victorious. The three unseeded teams advancing are South Florida (from the regional in which the University of Florida was the national seed), Florida State (where Georgia was the national seed), and UMass (where Texas A&M was the national seed).

One of the most interesting super-regionals, if not the most interesting one, will send defending national champion Michigan (No. 9 national seed) to Knoxville, to face No. 8 seed Tennessee. The series will feature a rematch of elite pitchers from last year's World Series, namely the Wolverines' Jennie Ritter and the Vols' Monica Abbott. This series will be held Saturday and Sunday, and be televised by ESPN.

The Michigan article on the Wolverines' regional-clinching victory over Oklahoma noted that a Sooner rally midway through the contest "snapp[ed] Ritter's consecutive postgame shutout streak at 46.1 innings." [I think they meant "postseason," instead of "postgame."]

5:50 pm Central: There have been several interesting developments in NCAA regional softball action thus far today.

We have our first qualifier for next weekend's super-regionals, the Washington Huskies.

In the only other regional on a Thursday-Saturday schedule, Arizona is seeking to join its fellow Pac 10 school in the "supers." The Wildcats just need to beat Auburn once, out of two opportunities, to win the regional. The Tigers have a loss (to Ohio State, which Auburn avenged, sending the Buckeyes home), so Auburn would need to beat the Wildcats twice to win the regional. Arizona-Auburn is currently on ESPN2, and the Wildcats seem comfortably ahead.

Jennie Ritter continues to carry defending NCAA champion Michigan, now the only undefeated team in the Ann Arbor regional and one win away (Sunday) from making the super-regionals. The Wolverines' win today wasn't easy, as they needed nine innings (two beyond the regulation seven) to edge Oklahoma, 1-0. According to the UM game story, Ritter:

...extend[ed] her postseason shutout streak to 42.0 innings, stretching back to the 2005 Women's College World Series.

Stanford, seeded No. 12 nationally, but forced to play at unseeded Fresno State, dropped a game to the host Bulldogs, 3-0.

Finally, Northwestern looked to be in fine form, routing Notre Dame 9-0 in a game that was terminated after five innings due to the "run rule" (also known as a "mercy rule"). More on Northwestern in the days to follow...

Late-Night Update (10:30 pm Central): ESPN.com's scoreboard for all of the softball regionals is the best I've seen. It's well-organized and appears to get updated in a timely fashion.

Arizona held off an Auburn comeback to win 4-2, and advance to the super-regionals.

Most of the regionals appear to be going according to the seedings. However, No. 13 national seed Texas A&M and No. 16 Florida -- both of whom lost yesterday -- lost again today, meaning that each is eliminated from its respective regional.