First team out.

That little phrase is beginning to haunt the BYU softball program.

For the second-straight year, the Cougars heard those words used to describe them when the 2025 NCAA softball tournament selection show aired Sunday night on ESPN2.

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Despite going 32-17 overall, 13-11 in the Big 12, BYU was not one of the 33 teams to get an at-large bid in this year’s field. An ESPN graphic shown at the end of the selection program showed BYU as the first team out.

Again.

The Cougars’ RPI was 47, which is almost always going to be on the wrong side of the bubble.

It was a similar story last year, after BYU went 31-23 and knocked off No. 3-ranked Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament and eventual three-time defending champion Oklahoma in Norman in the regular season.

This year, the Cougars’ résumé was not quite as strong. It’s a bummer for coach Gordon Eakin’s crew to not make the tournament, but it is not a blatant slight.

In essence, one or two games likely cost BYU the opportunity to go dancing.

“The emotions of missing the postseason by being the first team out for a second straight year are tough to explain,” Eakin told the Deseret News in an emailed statement. “The team works so hard and to come up just short is tough. All I know is when you get knocked down, you get up, dust yourself off and go to work. Feeling sorry for yourself never gets you where you want to go.”

The sixth-seeded Cougars opened the Big 12 tournament with a 4-0 win over Houston, but fell 4-2 to No. 3 seed Iowa State and were eliminated at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

After making the NCAA Tournament for 16 straight seasons, BYU now hasn’t participated in the Big Dance since 2021, when it advanced to the final round of the Tempe Regional but was eliminated by No. 21 Virginia Tech on Arizona State’s field.

BYU seemed on track to make the NCAA Tournament on March 29 after a 9-4 win over No. 9 Arizona, a win that pushed its RPI into the mid-30s. But a 6-4 loss to Utah Valley in Provo on April 1 proved to be especially damaging, along with a 6-2 loss to Cal State Northridge in February.

BYU’s RPI plummeted to the mid-40s after the loss to the rival Wolverines, and the Cougars never got back into the 30s again.

The so-called second team out was Nevada (41-14) of the Mountain West, which had an RPI of 41. So BYU wasn’t the only team snubbed on Sunday.

The Big Ten’s Northwestern, which went 29-18 and had an RPI of 49, did make the tournament as the 33rd and final at-large selectee. That’s easily the selection committee’s most questionable pick.

What’s going on? Is BYU’s policy of not playing on Sunday causing the committee to bypass the Cougars when they are on the bubble?

Pete Mundo of Heartland College Sports wrote the following:

“There’s a belief that BYU always has a tough time getting in, as the NCAA may not be interested in having to cater to BYU by shifting a regional to Thursday to Saturday, rather than Friday to Sunday.”

In all, the Big 12 landed five bids, ranking fourth of all conferences. Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, UCF, Arizona and Arizona State all made the field.

All 16 of the regionals will begin on Friday and conclude on Sunday. The Super Regionals are May 22-25 and the Women’s College World Series is May 29 to June 5/6 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

After back-to-back 40+ win seasons, an RPI of 36 & a Mountain West regular-season title, Nevada softball gets snubbed of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid

The Wolf Pack were the second team out of the field of 64 behind BYU

— Shannon Kelly (@shannonkelly_tv) May 11, 2025

It makes one wonder if BYU, which was celebrating its 25th season of softball, would have made the field if it had defeated No. 11 Texas Tech in the regular-season finale on May 3 in Provo. The Red Raiders took a 2-1 win while holding offensive juggernaut BYU to just one hit.

The SEC, ACC and Big Ten all got more bids than the Big 12.

That BYU was left out did not come as a surprise to most publications that follow college softball.

Eric Lopez of D1softball.com had BYU among the First Five Out and noted that the Cougars’ non-conference strength of schedule (No. 190) was an issue, but five top-50 wins was a positive sign.

“They have a case, but we project them to be just on the outside looking in,” Lopez wrote.

Softball America also had BYU in its first four out, along with Nevada, Northwestern and North Texas.

“BYU was the (team) I had the toughest time not putting in because they have more Top-100 wins, but the 190 NC-SOS might be the difference,” wrote Brady Vernon before the selections were announced.

So what’s next?

In the past, teams that were close to making the NCAA Tournament received an invitation to the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC), but that tournament will not be held in 2025, per its website. BYU made a run in the NISC in 2023 in its final season in the West Coast Conference, but fell to Iowa in the championship game.

Absolutely brutal. The 2nd year in a row BYU softball is the 1st team out of the 64 team ncaa tournament. Im heartbroken for those girls.

— Philly Sports BYU (@PhillySportsBYU) May 12, 2025