Sport Softball Current champion Auburn Tigers Current location Knoxville | Played 1997-present Conference Southeastern Conference Number of teams 13 | |
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Format Single-elimination tournament (2006-present)
Double-elimination tournament (1997-2006) Current stadium Sherri Parker Lee Stadium Last contest 2016 - Nusz Park, Starkville, Mississippi | ||
The SEC Softball Tournament (sometimes known simply as the SEC Tournament) is the conference championship tournament in college softball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a single-elimination (since 2006) tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Softball Tournament.
Contents
Tournament
The SEC Softball tournament is a single-elimination tournament held each year at various SEC-conference campus stadiums. Twelve of the 13 teams in the SEC make the tournament each year (Vanderbilt does not sponsor a softball team).
History
The tournament has been held since 1997, when the SEC began sponsoring softball. In 1997 it was an eight-team, double-elimination tournament with byes for the top two seeds. From 1998 until 2005 it was an eight-team, double-elimination tournament with no byes. In 2006 it became an eight-team, single-elimination tournament. In 2013, with the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M into the SEC, the tournament moved to a ten-team, single-elimination tournament with the top 6 teams earning first round byes.