Who has won the most NCAA softball championships? UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma have most WCWS titles
This week, eight softball teams will travel from various corners of the country to Devon Park in Oklahoma City, each harboring dreams of a national championship.
By the end of the 2024 Women’s College World Series, though, only one of them will leave with a trophy and with their names alongside some of the greatest teams to ever play the sport.
Every year since 1982 — with the exception of 2020, when the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic — the NCAA has awarded a softball championship. The history of college softball titles goes back even further than that, as the Division of Girls and Women's Sports and later the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women crowned a champion beginning in 1969 before softball became an NCAA-sanctioned sport in 1982.
REQUIRED READING: Home of Women's College World Series, USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, unveils rebrand
Over that time, several schools among the more than 250 Division I institutions that field softball programs have distinguished themselves, racked up championships at a much greater rate than their counterparts and, in the process, established themselves as the sport’s preeminent national powers.
As yet another Women’s College World Series is set to begin, here’s a look at college softball’s history of champions:
Who has won the most NCAA softball championships?
UCLA has won the most NCAA softball championships, with 12. Despite having 13 total, the Bruins are listed as having 12 titles in the NCAA record books, as their 1995 championship was vacated after an investigation revealed that they gave out more scholarships than permitted under NCAA rules.
UCLA dominated the early years of softball being an NCAA sport, winning seven championships in an 11-season stretch from 1982-92.
Arizona is the next-closest school, with eight, but it’s the program in third that has been softball’s dominant power this century. Oklahoma has won seven championships, all of which have come since 2000. No other program has more than four during that stretch.
REQUIRED READING: Ex-OU softball stars Keilani Ricketts, Haley Lee and Alex Storako join Athletes Unlimited
Schools with most NCAA softball championships
UCLA’s 12 championships lead all Division I schools, though the Bruins have an additional title from 1978, when the AIAW oversaw the sport and another that was vacated from 1995.
Beginning in 1982, when the NCAA began its governance of softball, here is a list of the schools with the most softball championships:
1. UCLA: 12
2. Arizona: 8
3. Oklahoma: 7
T-4. Arizona State: 2
T-4. Florida: 2
T-4. Texas A&M: 2
T-7. Alabama: 1
T-7. Cal State Fullerton: 1
T-7. Cal: 1
T-7. Florida State: 1
T-7. Fresno State: 1
T-7. Michigan: 1
T-7. Washington: 1
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Who has won the most NCAA softball championships? UCLA, Arizona lead the group
