University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Announces 2018 Softball Schedule
December 7, 2017 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL – Carolina softball is pleased to announce its schedule for the upcoming 2018 season. A challenging slate, the Tar Heels will play 17 games against 2017 NCAA Regional qualifiers, including squaring off against two-time defending national champion Oklahoma. More than half of UNC's opponents finished in the top 100 of the RPI, with eight teams appearing in the final NFCA and ESPN.com polls.
"We have a strong RPI schedule, especially the teams that we will be facing in our nonconference tournaments and some of our midweeks," said head coach Donna J. Papa. "The strongest field of nonconference opponents that we face will be at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs. We play at JMU with 2017 National Player of the Year Megan Good back on the mound. We are also excited to host two quality opponents from the Big Ten in Wisconsin and Illinois, as well Big 12 opponent Kansas in our Carolina Classic.
"Building and playing a competitive schedule is what the season is all about."
Quick Hits:
- 54 games against 33 opponents
- 26 regular-season home games at Anderson Stadium
- 17 games against 12 NCAA Regional participants
- UNC will face defending National Champion Oklahoma and Super Regional participant Arizona in Palm Springs, Calif.
- Nine conference regular-season and/or tournament champions
- Oklahoma (Big 12), Arizona (Pac-12), Liberty (Big South), Longwood (Big South Tournament), Fordham (Atlantic-10), USC Upstate (Atlantic Sun), JMU (Colonial), UNCG (SoCon), Hampton (MEAC)
- Eight teams that appeared in the final NFCA and ESPN.com polls, with five ranked in the top 25 of at least one poll and an additional three teams receiving votes in both polls
- No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 9 Arizona, No. 18 JMU
- No. 25 South Carolina (NFCA), No. 24 Illinois (ESPN.com)
- RV: USC Upstate, Wisconsin, California
- Of the 33 opponents, 19 finished last season in the top 100 of the RPI, with 11 top-50 teams and five in the top 25:
- #5 Arizona, #6 Oklahoma, #15 JMU, #22 South Carolina, #23 California
- UNC will face South Alabama and Duke for the first time
- Carolina will host Duke on March 9-11 in the Blue Devils' first-ever ACC series
- ACC schedule breakdown:
- 24 games – eight three-game series
- Home: Duke, NC State, Pitt, Virginia Tech
- Away: Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia
- Missed: Florida State, Louisville, Boston College
- New conference format
- Duke debuts as a member of the ACC bring the team total to 12
- The ACC will feature two six-team divisions, Atlantic and Coastal
- Atlantic: Boston College, Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Notre Dame, Syracuse
- Coastal: Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Virginia Tech
- Everyone plays a three-game series against all five teams in its division every season.
- Everyone plays a series against three out-of-division teams in 2018 and the other three in 2019
- New ACC Tournament format
- Georgia Tech will host the ACC Tournament on May 9-12
- The tournament field has expanded to 10 of the 12 ACC teams (from eight)
- Single-elimination format over four days
- Division champions will be awarded the top two seeds
The Tar Heels open the season on Feb. 10-11 at the UCF Softball Invitational. The neutral-site tournament features matchups against host UCF, Butler, Atlantic-10 Champion Fordham and Carolina's first-ever meeting with South Alabama.
Two weeks later, Carolina takes a cross-country trek to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, California, where the Tar Heels will face five formidable opponents in a key early-season challenge. UNC will take on No. 1 Oklahoma, the 2016 and 2017 WCWS National Champion, eight-time national champion No. 9 Arizona, Big South Champion Liberty, and Power 5 powerhouses Missouri and California.
The ACC/Big Ten Challenge returns to Chapel Hill for its third iteration, as Carolina will host Illinois, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh in the annual conference showdown on Feb. 16-18. Additionally, the Tar Heels will once again host the Carolina Classic, with Kansas, Elon and Harvard coming to town on March 2-4.
Throughout the season, the Tar Heels will also play midweek nonconference games against teams from throughout the region which include matchups against SoCon Champion UNCG, CAA Champion No. 18 JMU, MEAC Champion Hampton, Big South Tournament Champion Longwood, SEC rival South Carolina and a doubleheader against Atlantic Sun Champion USC Upstate.
Duke University debuts on the softball field for the first time this season, bringing the total of ACC softball teams up to 12. As a result, the conference has split into two divisions of six teams apiece. North Carolina will play in the Coastal Division, along with Duke, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Atlantic Division will feature Boston College, Florida State, Louisville, NC State, Notre Dame and Syracuse. The shift to the divisional format brings a new, more balanced, playing schedule. Each team will play a three-game series against every member of its own division every season. Every team will also play three of the six teams in the opposite division this season and will face the remaining three teams next season.
"It is great to now have three softball teams within a half-hour drive of each other," said Papa. "I think for the players and fans it is an opportunity to generate excitement for the sport of NCAA DI Fastpitch Softball in the Triangle area. There is a great buzz around the sport now with its inclusion in the Olympics in 2020 in Japan. Now more of a fan base will be able to go to games and see teams play in one of the top conferences in the country—the ACC."
The Tar Heels open the conference season on March 9-11 at home against Duke in the Blue Devils' first-ever ACC series. Carolina will also host Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and NC State at Anderson Stadium and will travel to face Notre Dame, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Syracuse. The Tar Heels do not play Florida State, Louisville and Boston College this spring, who all finished in the top four of the ACC standings last season.
"I've had the opportunity to have 31 years of opening days here at Carolina," said Papa. "Opening day of ACC play at home is always exciting no matter who the opponent is. Certainly, a newly-formed team in the conference will peak people's interests, so I would expect to have a big crowd for the Duke series. We would love to pack the stands at Anderson Stadium to open our home ACC season."
The ACC Tournament will also look different this season, as the tournament field has expanded from eight to 10 teams. The four-day single-elimination tournament will be hosted by Georgia Tech on May 9-12. The first day of the tournament will feature two games between the bottom four seeds (7-10), the winners of which will advance to face the two division champions in Thursday's Quarterfinals. There will be a total of four Quarterfinal games on Thursday, followed by two Semifinal matchups on Friday and the ACC title game on Saturday.
"The ACC is getting bigger and stronger every year," said Papa. "We are a conference to be reckoned with. On the national level, Florida State has been the most consistent in terms of being in the top 10 and winning our conference for the past few years. We were one of three teams that went on to the postseason and deep into Regionals last year.
"Everyone has been strengthening their schedules and their rosters. It is a competitive conference and to be good over all three days of a series and survive a single-elimination tournament of 10 teams will be very telling for teams. I believe the tournament championship will be hotly contested this year. The focus for a number of teams, this year especially, will be to win their division to get a top seed for the tournament. It will definitely be an exciting conference to follow every weekend."
The NCAA Tournament begins on May 17 with NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals being held on the campuses of the highest seeds. The 2018 Women's College World Series returns to Oklahoma City once again, where it will be held from May 31 to June 6.
For the complete 2018 schedule, click here.
