Kentucky softball was selected to compete in the NCAA Championship for the 16th consecutive season under head coach Rachel Lawson, earning an at-large bid.

Lawson and her squad will travel to Clemson, South Carolina, alongside Northwestern and USC Upstate to face off in the NCAA Clemson Regional from May 16-18.

The Wildcats hold the No. 2 seed in the regional and will battle No. 3 Northwestern to open the tournament at 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 16, on ESPN+.

With a tournament selection every year since 2009, Kentucky is one of 12 programs in the country to achieve that feat over the past 16 seasons. The Cats join Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida State, UCLA and Washington as the 12 to do so.

All 14 of the Southeastern Conference’s eligible teams were selected to the Women’s College World Series, setting the NCAA record for most teams picked from one league to compete for a national title.

Just over a week ago, the Wildcats were a presumed “lock” for the NCAA Tournament, gearing up to be one of the top seeds. Now, Nick Mingione and the Cats are sitting on the bubble after four consecutive losses.

Western Kentucky took down the Bat Cats 6-4 on April 29, a respectable loss, but Big Blue Nation did not expect a Mississippi State Bulldogs team, who had only seven conference wins and had just fired their head coach, to sweep the Wildcats.

On May 3, the Bulldogs blitzed the Cats, outscoring them 20-9 between both games of Saturday’s doubleheader. The next day, the Wildcats only tallied one run and were swept for the first time since 2023 in a SEC series.

Now, Kentucky looks ahead to its weekend matchup with the No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners, who are facing off for the first time ever against the Wildcats.

To say this series is season-defining is an understatement, considering the Wildcats only have seven more games on the schedule including Oklahoma.

The Sooners are having a very successful first season in the SEC, hanging around the top 15 rankings all season and winning five of their eight conference series thus far.

Having this past week off, and sinking down in multiple hitting and pitching categories for the conference, the Wildcats will have to get at least one win against the Sooners to keep their hopes alive.

With 10 conference wins, Kentucky will need to win at least three of their remaining SEC games to be put in the conversation for a tournament bid.

The remaining schedule:

May 9-11 vs. No. 16 Oklahoma (32-14, 13-11 SEC)

May 13 vs. Northern Kentucky (26-20)

May 15-17 @ No. 11 Vanderbilt (34-14, 14-10 SEC)

All rankings are provided from Baseball America.

Two more former Kentucky stars are set to join La Familia, as twin brothers Andrew and Aaron Harrison have committed to return for the Wildcats alumni team in this year’s edition of The Basketball Tournament (TBT).

The Harrison twins, who helped lead Kentucky to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2014 and 2015, bring veteran experience and elite pedigree to an already talent-heavy roster filled with former NBA players.

In early April, Doron Lamb and DeAndre Liggins became the first players to commit to La Familia’s typically star-studded roster, which this season will also feature TBT’s 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, Willie Cauley-Stein.

For those unfamiliar, TBT is a high-stakes, nationally televised, single-elimination tournament featuring a $1 million, winner-take-all prize. Alumni teams from schools such as Louisville, Kansas, Indiana and other major programs across the country compete each summer.

With TBT season on the horizon, the Harrison twins will look to tap into their former selves in hopes of helping the squad of former Cats claim a share of the $1 million prize.

The team will once again be led by former Kentucky guard Tyler Ulis, who returns as head coach following La Familia’s Final Four run last season.

La Familia will host the tournament’s opening rounds for the Lexington Regional at Memorial Coliseum from July 18–22.

Lexington is also set to host the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game—if La Familia advances and secures home-court advantage. That advantage is awarded to the team whose fans purchase the most pre-sale tickets, giving Big Blue Nation a direct role in bringing the final rounds home.