Field: Forty-eight teams are selected for championship play. Six teams will participate at each of eight regional sites in a double-elimination tournament. The Women's College World Series will include the eight regional winners.

Dates and sites: Regional play will be May 19-21 at campus locations, and the Women's College World Series will be May 25-29 at Don Porter Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/563-1133 (pin code 1915); request numbers are 1467 for brackets and schedules, 1468 for ticket information and 5155 for schedules and results from the Women's College World Series. Championship results will be published in the June 5 issue of The NCAA News.

Championship notes: The national poll for Division I softball hasn't changed much from last year, with the five Pac-10 teams from the 1999 Women's College World Series (Washington, Arizona, UCLA, California and Arizona State) atop the standings. One difference is that defending champion UCLA has fallen from its No. 1 ranking with five losses early this season. The Bruins lost only six games in all of 1999 but are now playing without all-tournament team members Christie Ambrosi and Stacey Nuveman. Washington, last year's runner-up, returns three all-tournament team members from last season, including pitcher Jennifer Spediacci, and is ranked No. 1 with a 38-4 record so far this season.