On Wednesday, Tennessee softball will get its 2026 SEC Tournament run started. The Lady Vols will get the winner between 12-seed South Carolina and 13-seed Ole Miss, who will play on Tuesday evening.
This stretch could be critical for Tennessee. According to a bracketology of the NCAA Tournament by PEARatings, the Lady Vols are projected to be the No. 8 overall seed. This puts UT just above the cut to guarantee being a host site for the super regional stage if it survives its regional.
The No. 9 seed is Texas Tech, No. 10 is Oregon and No. 11 is Duke. If those teams make a conference tournament run and Tennessee suffers a quick exit, it’s not out of the question that they could leapfrog the Lady Vols.
On the other hand, a deep run from Tennessee could push it to an even higher seed. The projected No. 7 seed is Florida, No. 6 is UCLA and No. 5 is Arkansas.
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Tennessee is looking for its fourth-ever conference tournament title. The Lady Vols claimed championships in 2006, 2011 and most recently, 2023. It has won the regular season conference title in 2007, 2023 and 2024.
However, while UT would love to win the SEC championship, its focus is also set on making a deep NCAA Tournament run. Tennessee is currently on track to make its 22nd-straight postseason, a streak dating back to 2004.
The Lady Vols have gotten out of the regional stage to the super regionals 14 times. Nine times, Tennessee has won the supers and made an appearance in the Women’s College World Series. This includes last season and in 2023.
Twice, Tennessee has gone all the way to the championship series. However, in both 2007 and 2013, the Lady Vols fell short and finished as the runner-up.
