NCAA softball conference tournaments promise midweek mega-battles

The GIST: Most softball conference tournaments step up to the plate today, and a few are promising more drama than Drake’s feud with Kendrick Lamar everyone.

Big 12: If the tourney is half as exciting as the regular-season finale, the Big 12 will be must-see TV. No. 1–seed Texas, No. 2 Oklahoma, and No. 3 Oklahoma State are three of the country’s top teams, and there’s no shortage of bad blood between ’em. Will Oklahoma get revenge against the only teams to take a series from them this year, or are the tides turning away from the Sooners?

SEC: No. 1–seed Tennessee is the SEC’s clear frontrunner: They haven’t dropped a series to a conference opponent all year and won the regular-season title by a comfortable margin. But in a bracket as stacked as this one — with 10 of its 13 competitors nationally ranked — upsets are more than likely. If you think you know what’ll happen…no, you don’t.

Pac-12: The sport’s OG dominant conference will say goodbye when this tourney wraps on Saturday, so expect the Pac to go out with a bang. No. 2–seed Stanford was the unquestioned team to beat until No. 1 UCLA swept them in late April. The title will likely come down to a rematch between the two — unless No. 4 Washington has something to say about it.

ACC: It seemed like the East Coast’s Power Five conference was destined to end in a battle between No. 1–seed Duke and No. 2 Florida State, but the ACC’s finish was unexpectedly spicy. Up-and-comer No. 3 Virginia Tech, struggling powerhouse No. 5 Clemson, and even giant-slayer No. 8 Syracuse suddenly appear much more dangerous than they did this time last week.