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- The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other words, a team is eliminated when it has lost two games. After six teams have been eliminated, the remaining two teams compete in a best-of-three series to determine the Division I WCWS National Champion. Opponents are chosen in such a way that it is possible for any two of the eight teams to meet in the championship series. In this respect the WCWS differs from the Men's College World Series in baseball, in which the eight teams are divided into two brackets of four teams each, and the winner of one bracket meets the winner of the other bracket in the best-of-three championship series. The WCWS takes place at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. From 1969 to 1981, the women's collegiate softball championship was also known as the Women's College World Series and was promoted as such. During 1969–1979, the series was played in Omaha, after which the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) held the series in 1980–1982 in Norman, Oklahoma. There were two competing World Series tournaments in 1982. The NCAA held its first six Division I tournaments in Omaha in 1982–1987, followed by Sunnyvale, California in 1988–1989. The event has been held in Oklahoma City every year since then, except for 1996, when it was held at the softball venue for the upcoming Olympic Games in Columbus, Georgia. Softball was one of twelve women's sports added to the NCAA championship program for the 1981–82 school year, as the NCAA engaged in battle with the AIAW for sole governance of women's collegiate sports. The AIAW continued to conduct its established championship program in the same twelve (and other) sports. The 1982 softball championship tournaments of both the AIAW and the NCAA were called "Women's College World Series". However, after a year of dual women's championships, the NCAA won out over the AIAW. Pac-12 schools have won 65% of the Championships since 1982, followed by the Big 12 with 10%, and the SEC, with 7.8% (Texas A&M played in the Southwest when it won its 2 championships). The 2020 Women's College World Series was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (en)
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