UNDATED (AP) — The Southeastern Conference received six of the top eight seeds in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship when the 64-team field was revealed on Sunday, including Alabama at No. 1, defending national champion Texas at No. 2 and Oklahoma at No. 3. The SEC got 12 of its 15 teams into the field. Regional play begins Friday, with the top 16 seeds hosting. The eight teams advancing from super regionals will compete in the Women's College World Series starting May 28 in Oklahoma City. Texas returns pitcher Teagan Kavan, the most outstanding player in last year's Women's College World Series.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The presidential committee asked to find solutions for spiraling costs in college sports recommended creation of a task force to look at pooling media rights, limiting coaches salaries, and rewriting eligibility and transfer-portal rules, along with at least a dozen other ideas. A draft document of the committee’s proposals was obtained by Yahoo Sports. The committee wants Congress to quickly pass legislation that would create the task force, which would receive the antitrust exemption and the right to override individual state laws that the NCAA and other collegiate sports leaders are seeking. The committee is the product of a White House summit called by President Donald Trump in March.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Teagan Kavan struck out 12 batters in a complete-game three-hitter and defending national champion Texas won the SEC Softball Tournament for the first time, defeating Alabama 7-1. Kavan, the pitching star when Texas won the Women’s College World Series in 2025, gave up a first-inning home run by Alexis Pupillo then allowed only four base runners the rest of the game. Alabama loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but Kavan got out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts. SEC Player of the Year Katie Stewart hit her UT-record 25th home run of the season in the sixth inning. Alabama starter Jocelyn Briski allowed two runs in six innings. Kavan improved to 22-4.
UNDATED (AP) — The expansion of March Madness and the $300 million in extra revenue that comes with it through opening sponsorships to beer, wine and liquor companies offered a brief reprieve from the steady drip of headlines this spring that underscore the problems confronting college sports. Among them are the disbanding of tennis teams at Arkansas, new efforts to generate revenue in the Big 12 and at Duke and the ongoing issues surrounding the industry's new regulator, the College Sports Commission. Odds are those issues won't be close to sorted out once the buzz over the new 76-team hoops brackets, which debut next year, subsides.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Division I Football Bowl Subdivisions Oversight Committee has adopted a proposal that would loosen the constraints on conferences needing one or more of its 5-7 teams to play in bowl games. Under the proposal, if all teams with at least a 6-6 record have been selected, a conference can pick any team that has a minimum multiyear Academic Progress Rate score of 930 to fill bowl commitments. The committee’s action requires Division I Cabinet approval. Currently, if 5-7 teams need to be selected for a bowl, those teams become available in descending order of their multiyear APR.
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — The Big Ten joined the Southeastern Conference in crossing the $1 billion mark in total revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year. And that marked a significant uptick in payouts to its member schools. The league reported roughly $1.47 billion in total revenue in its federal tax filing for the term running from July 2024 to June 2025. That was up from about $928.1 million in revenue the previous year. The league paid an average of $79.9 million to member schools receiving a full share. Oregon and Washington received reduced shares in their deals to join after leaving the Pac-12.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A second million-dollar college volleyball event will be played in late August and national power Nebraska will appear in both. The inaugural Players Era Volleyball Showcase is set for Aug. 29-30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will have $1 million in name, image and likeness opportunities for the four participating teams. That event follows Spikes Under the Lights on Aug. 27 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, that will distribute $1 million among four teams. Nebraska plays UNLV and Texas faces TCU on the first day of the Showcase. It's Nebraska-Texas and TCU-UNLV on the second day.
UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA will expand its March Madness tournaments by eight teams each next season. It will add more early-round games in the first week without altering the overall format. The new 76-team brackets for men and women will feature 12 games involving 24 teams. The winners will join the main 64-team bracket starting Thursday for men and Friday for women. Most new slots are expected to go to power conference teams.
