Throughout the past few weeks of postseason play, the increased hype surrounding the SEC conference has caught my attention. I continually see and hear people who constantly build up SEC softball.
The SEC is home to some of the most talented softball teams in the nation. I don’t disagree there.
There are the Florida Gators who are in the midst of their fourth straight Women’s College World Series appearance. UF boasts an incredible one-two punch in the circle with Stephanie Brombacher and Hannah Rogers.
There’s Alabama, a team that led the SEC in ERA, and won the SEC Western Division crown. The Crimson Tide posted a 19-6 record in conference play while owning a 51-9 overall mark.
The conference also possesses talented squads such as LSU, Georgia, and Kentucky.
There’s no question that the SEC is a talented softball conference on the rise. But does that make it collegiate softball’s supreme conference? Heck no.
The Pac-10 has and will continue to serve as collegiate softball’s elite conference. Each conference season is an absolute grind with elite pitching and All-American hitters facing off.
Yes, the SEC has hurlers such as Brombacher and Alabama’s Kelsi Dunne, but so does the Pac. From Dallas Escobedo, Jolene Henderson, and Kenzie Fowler, to Teagan Gerhart, and Jessica Moore, lights-out pitching is abundant in the Pac.
Also, two of this year’s top three finalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year award reign from the Pac. The award went to Stanford shortstop Ashley Hansen.
Yeah, I know there are only two Pac-10 teams in this year’s WCWS in ASU and California, but so what.
Conferences should be measured by the ultimate statistic: national championships won. After all, the ultimate goal of each softball team every year is to win the national championship. So with that being said, the Pac-10 is eons ahead of the SEC.
Out of all 30 national championships, 22 have been won by the Pac-10. Yes, an astounding 22 national titles.
From 1988 to 1997 UCLA and Arizona combined to win 10 national championships. Those two were the only teams to win a title during that period. No team outside of the Pac-10 has won a national title since 2005.
So how many has the SEC won? Just how many titles has this ultra-hyped, supposed power conference won? Wait for it…zero. That’s right, a SEC team has never won an NCAA national championship.
So yeah, the SEC is on the rise, but it has a long ways to go before it can even come close to the Pac-10’s softball success.
