The NCAA Softball Tournament started with controversy on Selection Sunday. Then, it was time for Regionals on the road to the Women's College World Series. Here's how things shook out during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

1. The Unfortunate End of the Road for Minnesota

The season is over for the Minnesota Golden Gophers after losing 1-0 twice against Alabama over the weekend.

Before games began, the story of this NCAA Tournament was Minnesota's placement in the tournament field. The No. 1/3 ranked team in the country was expecting to host a regional after their best season in program history and having the best record in college softball.

Instead, Minnesota was shockingly not given one of the top 16 seeds in the bracket. The road warriors were sent on another road trip, this time to Alabama for the Tuscaloosa Regional.

The Gophers run-ruled Louisiana Tech in their first game, setting the stage for the first showdown against Alabama on Saturday.

Neither team scored in the first eight innings, setting up more controversy. Gophers ace pitcher Sara Groenewegen put two Bama hitters on base in the bottom of the ninth. Then, Sara hit a third batter to load the bases. Or, did she? Replays showed the ball did not hit Marisa Runyon. But, the bases were loaded nevertheless.

Groenewegen then went to a 3-1 count against Regan Dykes. She appeared to throw strike two, but the pitch over the middle of the plate was ruled a ball. Alabama walked in the winning run to win 1-0. The whole story of Minnesota's situation even drew coverage on ESPN SportsCenter on Saturday night.

On Sunday, Minnesota had to win three games to advance out of Regionals. Against Louisiana Tech, the Gophers went nine innings again. This time they won 5-2 to advance to another game against Alabama.

The Crimson Tide struck first with a run in the first inning against Groenewegen. And the 1-0 score held up, as Minnesota's hitters were unable to solve the Crimson Tide's pitching combination of Alexis Osorio and Sydney Littlejohn.

The season was over for Minnesota after battling Bama in two WCWS-worthy games. Unfortunately, we'll never know how the Gophers would have handled the WCWS stage. They were good enough to get there based on their season, but the controversy from Selection Sunday seemed to hover over them like a cloud that popped up every once in a while during their final road trip of the season to Alabama.

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2. SEC Takes Advantage of Hosting

Alabama joined several other SEC teams that took advantage of being Regional hosts.

The NCAA awarded eight of the 16 Regional host sites to SEC teams. And, the only remaining question mark is whether LSU will advance.

The top left of the bracket includes winners Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas A&M. The bottom left includes Ole Miss. Later, we will find out if LSU will join the Super Regionals when the Tigers play a deciding game against in-state rival Lafayette on Monday afternoon.

On the right side of the bracket, Auburn and Kentucky punched their tickets to the Super Regionals. Auburn is waiting to find out if they will play Oklahoma in a WCWS Championship rematch, as the Sooners play a final game against Tulsa on Monday afternoon.

Overall, the SEC is guaranteed at least two teams in the WCWS. Florida and Alabama will settle their rivalry in Gainesville while Tennessee and Texas A&M will battle in Knoxville to find out which teams advance to OKC.

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3. Pac-12 Elite Seeking WCWS

The Pac-12 elite did not disappoint in the Regionals round. In fact, they were superb.

- UCLA went undefeated in their regional with three blowout wins.

- Oregon also went undefeated, but the Ducks needed a major late-inning rally against Wisconsin in their second game to win 6-5 in extra innings. When the Ducks and Badgers played again on Sunday, Oregon wiped out Wisconsin 9-0.

- Arizona went undefeated with three blowout wins. Included was Katiyana Mauga breaking Pac-12 Home Run records. She is getting closer to the all-time NCAA Softball record held by OU's Lauren Chamberlain.

- Washington took care of Montana and Washington without a blemish in their regional. The Huskies are dangerous as they look ahead to what should be a very interesting Super Regional against Utah.

- Utah went undefeated with two big wins over in-state rival BYU. Now, the Utes get another crack at Washington in the Super Regionals. This follows the Huskies pulling off an amazing 12-run comeback against the Utes during the final game of the regular season. You know Utah will be thinking revenge on Washington's home field.

Overall, the Pac-12 is guaranteed at least one team in the WCWS between Utah and Washington. In the other Super Regionals, Oregon faces Kentucky, UCLA faces Ole Miss, and Arizona faces Baylor.

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4. Big 12 & ACC

The best of the rest from the Power 5 conferences include Florida State, Baylor, and potentially Oklahoma.

Florida State went undefeated in Regionals, including two wins over SEC team Georgia. Now, FSU waits to find out if they play LSU or Lafayette in the Super Regionals.

In the Big 12, OU shockingly lost their first game of the Regionals against North Dakota State. So, the Sooners had to battle all the way back through the loser's bracket to make the Regional Title game against Tulsa on Monday afternoon.

The other elite Big 12 team, Baylor, went to battle against James Madison and ace pitcher Megan Good. The Bears pulled off a late-inning comeback in their first meeting, then Baylor no-hit JMU in the final elimination game on Sunday.

Baylor has punched their ticket to face Arizona in the Super Regionals. Now, will OU join them? Or, will AAC team Tulsa crash the party?

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5. The Underdogs

Minnesota was not the only team that felt snubbed by the tournament seeding. James Madison and Louisiana-Lafayette were Top 15 ranked teams throughout the college softball season. But, the Dukes and Ragin' Cajuns were not seeded as Regional hosts.

Minnesota battled Alabama tooth and nail in 1-0 games, JMU was very close to beating Baylor, and Lafayette recorded at least one win against LSU. Now, we find out on Monday if the Ragin' Cajuns can beat LSU twice on their home field.

The other underdog in the mix, Tulsa, also has a chance to beat in-state rival Oklahoma on their home field on Monday afternoon.

Minnesota, JMU, Lafayette, and Tulsa proved during Regionals that they belong with the top softball teams in the country. And, teams that have similar resumes in future years should be given more respect when it comes to NCAA Tournament seeding.

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6. No-Hitters Galore

There were six no-hitters during the Regionals through Sunday. And, there were plenty more one-hitters.

On Friday, Florida star pitcher Delanie Gourley recorded a no-hitter in five innings against Florida A&M.

In Texas, Baylor's Gia Rodoni recorded two no-hitters. Gia no-hit Kent State on Friday, then no-hit James Madison on Sunday to win the Regional.

Also on Friday, Louisiana no-hit McNeese State, UCLA no-hit Lehigh, and Washington no-hit Montana.

On Saturday, Michigan no-hit Fresno State. And, Baylor's Rodoni capped the no-hitters with her second one on Sunday.

As a whole, the Regionals featured great pitching. There were some high-scoring games, but there were more low-scoring, low-hit games in this round of the tournament.

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7. Congratulations Butler!

The Butler Grizzlies completed an epic season by winning the NJCAA Title on Saturday.

Butler's star pitcher Regan Mergele finished her junior college career with two National Titles after helping lead Butler to the National Title last season.

But, in the championship game on Saturday, Butler needed their bats to overpower Salt Lake Community College by the final score of 11-7.

Butler finished the season 58-1, with one loss in the Region VI Tournament against Seward County. It was a terrific season for Coach Doug Chance to complete back-to-back championship runs.

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