KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the 48-team field for the 45th annual NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round on Wednesday evening. The field for 2026 includes 29 automatic qualifiers, who either punched their ticket by winning their conference regular season or conference tournament, or by being a conference tournament runner-up in their respective conference. Four teams punched their ticket to the opening round, earning a host-at-large berth. At the same time, the remaining 15 spots in the field were filled by the softball national selection committee, comprised of head coaches and administrators from around the country.

Five teams are making their first opening-round appearance in 2026: Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.), Dillard (La.), Dordt (Iowa), Oakland City (Ind.), and Saint Francis (Ind.). On the other side of first appearances for teams in 2026, Oklahoma City is making its 13th opening round appearance, the best mark among the field of 48.

Twenty-nine teams return to the opening round for back-to-back years. Williams Baptist (Ark.), and Tennessee Southern, making an appearance again after a 10-year hiatus.

Oklahoma City leads the field with nine opening-round titles across its 13 appearances. At the same time, 26 other teams have also secured at least one opening-round title, including six from the defending national champion Southern Oregon.

Teams looking to punch one of ten tickets to Columbus for the NAIA Softball World Series have a battle in front of them as the combined overall winning percentage of the field sits at .722 percent, or a combined overall record of 1,744-671. There are 14 teams with 40 or more wins on the season; only eight of those teams have dropped nine or fewer games this season.

How does conference representation stack up across the association? Well, the Cascade and Southern States lead the way with five teams each into the opening rounds. The Cascade and Southern States follow the Heart of America Athletic Conference and the Sun Conference closely.

	Institution	Conference	Qualification
	Arizona Christian	Great Southwest Athletic Conference	At Large
	Benedictine (Kan.)	Heart of America Athletic Conference	At Large
	Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.)	Southern States Athletic Conference	At Large
	British Columbia	Cascade Collegiate Conference	At Large
	Campbellsville (Ky.)	Mid-South Conference	At Large
	Central Methodist (Mo.)	Heart of America Athletic Conference	Tournament Champion
	Coastal Georgia	The Sun Conference	At Large
	College of Idaho	Cascade Collegiate Conference	At Large
	Columbia (Mo.)	American Midwest Conference	Tournament Champion
	Cumberlands (Ky.)	Mid-South Conference	At Large
	Dickinson State (N.D.)	Frontier Conference	Tournament Champion
	Dillard (La.)	HBCU Athletic Conference	Tournament Champion
	Dordt (Iowa)	Great Plains Athletic Conference	At Large
	Eastern Oregon	Cascade Collegiate Conference	At Large
	Evangel (Mo.)	Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference	Regular Season Champion
	Faulkner (Ala.)	Southern States Athletic Conference	At Large
	Friends (Kan.)	Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference	Tournament Runner-up
	Georgia Gwinnett	Continental Athletic Conference (Independents)	Tournament Champion
	Grand View (Iowa)	Heart of America Athletic Conference	At Large
	Indiana Tech	Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference	Tournament Runner-up
	Indiana Wesleyan	Crossroads League	Regular Season Champion
	IU Southeast (Ind.)	River States Conference	Tournament Champion
	Johnson (Tenn.)	Appalachian Athletic Conference	Regular Season Champion
	Keiser (Fla.)	The Sun Conference	Tournament Champion
	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	Mid-South Conference	Tournament Champion
	LSU Alexandria (La.)	Red River Athletic Conference	Regular Season Champion
	Madonna (Mich.)	Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference	Regular Season Champion
	Marian (Ind.)	Crossroads League	At Large
	Midland (Neb.)	Great Plains Athletic Conference	Regular Season Champion
	Missouri Baptist	Heart of America Athletic Conference	Regular Season Champion
	Mobile (Ala.)	Southern States Athletic Conference	At Large
	Morningside (Iowa)	Great Plains Athletic Conference	Tournament Runner-up
	Oakland City (Ind.)	River States Conference	Regular Season Champion
	Oklahoma City	Sooner Athletic Conference	Tournament Champion
	Oregon Tech	Cascade Collegiate Conference	At Large
	OUAZ (Ariz.)	Great Southwest Athletic Conference	Tournament Champion
	Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)	Red River Athletic Conference	Tournament Champion
	Saint Francis (Ind.)	Crossroads League	Tournament Champion
	Saint Xavier (Ill.)	Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference	Tournament Champion
	USAO (Okla.)	Sooner Athletic Conference	Regular Season Champion
	Southeastern (Fla.)	The Sun Conference	At Large
	Southern Oregon	Cascade Collegiate Conference	Tournament Champion
	St. Thomas (Fla.)	The Sun Conference	At Large
	Tennessee Southern	Southern States Athletic Conference	At Large
	Texas A&M -Texarkana	Red River Athletic Conference	At Large
	Truett McConnell (Ga.)	Appalachian Athletic Conference	Tournament Champion
	William Carey (Miss.)	Southern States Athletic Conference	Tournament Champion
	Williams Baptist (Ark.)	American Midwest Conference	Regular Season Champion