The best teams in college softball are gathering in Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series. Eight teams will compete for the national championship.

If you're new to the softball scene, first off, welcome! Second, you might be a little confused how this thing works. Don't worry, it's a little complicated.

This isn't like March Madness, where there's a clear-cut bracket of 64 teams (we'll ignore the First Four games for simplicity). It's not the College Football Playoff, where a committee makes an arbitrary determination of the four teams (well, 12 teams starting in 2024) most deserving of playing for the title. Those are both single-elimination tournaments, and that's just not how things work in softball.

So let's try to make this as easy as possible.

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How many teams make it to the Women's College World Series?

Eight teams make the trip each year to Oklahoma City to play for the national softball title. This year's teams are:

• No. 1 Oklahoma

• No. 3 Florida State

• No. 4 Tennessee

• No. 5 Alabama

• No. 6 Oklahoma State

• No. 7 Washington

• No. 9 Stanford

• No. 15 Utah

Is the Women's College World Series double-elimination?

Sometimes! Here's how it works.

The Women's College World Series mimics the format of the first two rounds of the NCAA softball tournament. The first round features four-team groups playing double-elimination tournaments at 16 sites across the country. The winning team from each regional then advances to the Super Regional round, where it plays one other team in a three-game series. Whichever team wins that series advances to the Women's College World Series.

At the WCWS, the process repeats. The eight remaining teams are split into two groups of four, who play each other in a mini-tournament. However, there is a little bracket-shifting as the round progresses. When a team loses two games in this stage, it is eliminated.

The two teams still standing face off in the Women's College World Series championship series (yes, it is a bit of a mouthful). Whoever wins two out of the three games in the series will be the national champion.

Women's College World Series schedule

Here's a look at the full bracket:

How many innings in a Women's College World Series game?

NCAA softball games are played in seven innings. They're a little shorter than traditional baseball games, which go nine innings.

Is there a run rule in NCAA softball?

Games can be decided before seven innings are up in case of a blowout. If a team is winning by eight or more runs after five innings, the game is over.

Both teams have to have a chance to bat, so if a team goes up by nine in the top of the fifth, the other team has a chance to score two runs in the bottom of the inning to keep the game going. If a team is up by four in the bottom of the sixth and hits a grand slam, then that's a walk-off.

In the championship series, however, there is no run rule. The last two teams have to play all seven innings.

Who has the most Women's College World Series?

The Women's College World Series goes back to 1982. UCLA has won 13 titles, though the Bruins' 1995 championship was later vacated by the NCAA.

Oklahoma has been the best team in recent years, winning five WCWS titles since 2013. The Sooners are the reigning back-to-back national champions, beating Florida State in 2021 and Texas in 2022.

What dates are the Women's College World Series?

The 2023 Women's College World Series begins Thursday, June 1. Bracket play ends Monday, June 5, and the championship series is set for June 7-9.

Here's a closer look at the brackets and the day-by-day schedule.

Where is the 2023 Women's College World Series?

The Women's College World Series is taking place at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla. The city has hosted the tournament every year since 1990.

What channel is the women's NCAA softball game on?

ESPN has rights to air the Women's College World Series. The games will air on ABC, ESPN (Channel 206 on DirecTV, Channel 140 on Dish) and ESPN2 (Channel 209 on DirecTV, Channel 143 on Dish).

All games are available to stream on ESPN+ ($9.99 per month), WatchESPN (cable subscription needed) and the ESPN app.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: How does the women's college softball World Series work?