The 2017 NCAA college softball season has been filled with surprises, upsets, and controversy. All of that was on display in the Women's College World Series this past weekend. Now, the stage is set for the WCWS Championship Series starting Monday.

1.  Florida vs. Oklahoma - Finally

Either Florida or Oklahoma has played in the WCWS Championship Series the past six years. Remarkably, though, they never faced each other. Now, it's finally Florida vs. Oklahoma to decide this year's college softball winner.
 
Both teams went undefeated over the weekend to advance to the Championship Series. The defending National Champion Oklahoma Sooners appeared to be on the verge of losing a semifinal game against Oregon on Sunday afternoon. But, the Sooners put together a four-run rally to finish Oregon 4-2.
 
Now, it's the battle of ace pitchers in the WCWS Championship Series. Florida's Kelly Barnhill and Delanie Gourley were virtually unhittable in three games to advance to the title round.
 
Barnhill and Gourley shut out Texas A&M in Game 1 for Florida, Barnhill shut out LSU by herself in Game 2, and Gourley was just as good starting Game 3 against Washington. She was one out away from a third straight Gators shutout when an error led to a home run from the Huskies' Julia DePonte. Florida still won 5-2 to advance to the finals.
 
Meanwhile, Oklahoma won 6-3 against Big 12 rival Baylor in their first game, shut down Washington 3-1 in their second game, and rallied to beat Oregon 4-2 on Sunday.
 
The question for Florida coming into the WCWS was their hitting. Could they score runs in Oklahoma City after struggling against Alabama in the Super Regionals? Well, the Gators answered the challenge with 8 runs vs. A&M, 7 runs vs. LSU, and 5 runs vs. Washington.
 
Will the Gator bats stay hot against Oklahoma's combination of Paige Parker and Paige Lowary? We'll find out Monday, Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
 
WCWS Final History:

• ​2011: Arizona State beat Florida
  
• 2012: Alabama beat Oklahoma
  
• 2013: Oklahoma beat Tennessee
  
• 2014: Florida beat Alabama
  
• 2015: Florida beat Michigan
  
• 2016: Oklahoma beat Auburn
  
• 2017: Florida vs. Oklahoma

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2.  Pac-12 Shut Out Of WCWS Again 

UCLA was not the only Pac-12 team that felt slighted by the officiating in their WCWS games.
 
There was the foul but fair ball play in the Oregon vs. Oklahoma game that started the Sooners' rally on Sunday. And, there was another controversial play involving Oklahoma and a Pac-12 team.
 

In a winner's bracket game on Friday, Oklahoma got the scoring going when it appeared they should not have.
 
With the game scoreless in the second inning, OU's Fale Aviu tried to score on a bunt from Lea Wodach, but she ran completely out of the base paths before reaching back to touch home plate.
 
It appeared that Aviu was a full body length outside of the imaginary line of the base paths. But, she was ruled safe at the plate. That gave OU a 1-0 lead. Oklahoma tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth before Washington got on the board in the bottom of the sixth for a final score of 3-1 for Oklahoma.
 
What is the common theme in all three of these situations? There needs to be a replay system in college softball - at the very least at this important level at the WCWS. It's frustrating for coaches, players, and fans who want to make sure the best team in a given game actually wins the game.

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3. LSU Ran Out Of Tiger Magic

One of the biggest surprises of the WCWS was LSU's run through the tournament. First, the Tigers beat Florida State in the Super Regionals to stun the Seminoles and end their unbeaten home record.
 
Then, LSU showed up to OKC and beat UCLA 2-1 in their first game on Thursday. Of course, we know about the controversy surrounding that result.
 
But, LSU finally met its match from SEC conference foe Florida in a 7-0 loss to the Gators on Friday. That put LSU in an elimination situation on Saturday. That's when they ran into the Oregon Ducks, who solved Allie Walljasper and scored against Carley Hoover for a 4-1 win.
 
LSU can still feel proud about their season, though. Just getting to the WCWS after having to go through Florida State was quite the accomplishment. Then, winning their first game against UCLA was also surprising.
 
Seniors Bailey Landry, Constance Quinn, and Sahvanna Jaquish left quite the legacy in Baton Rouge as the Tigers search for their first-ever trip to the WCWS Championship Series.

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LSU reached the WCWS three straight years for the first time in program history. And, manager Beth Torina has guided the Tigers to Oklahoma City four out of six years in Baton Rouge.
 
Will next year be their year to reach the WCWS title game? Both Walljasper and Hoover are returning next year after finishing their junior year. Don't be surprised to see the Tiger aces find the right combination to get LSU over that big hurdle in 2018. How about Oregon vs. LSU in the 2018 WCWS

4. Defense Wins Championships

Overshadowed by the officiating issues in the WCWS was the amazing defense on display throughout the tournament. Check out these highlights:

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5. WCWS Continues to Grow - But When Will There be Replay?

One of the overall themes of this year's WCWS is how the tournament continues to grow in popularity. When you turn on the TV to watch a college sporting event, you want to see people in the stands.
 
And, in Oklahoma City, there have been huge crowds throughout the tournament at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
 
This carried over from the regular season, where top teams drew big crowds to their games and set records.
 
There are two big next steps that college softball needs to take, though. One is the use of instant replay and the second is more teams having a fair chance to compete for a spot in the WCWS.
 
First, the replay has to be addressed. Plays happen so fast because of the nature of fastpitch softball and because the players continue to get better and faster. So, there has to be a checks and balance to make sure key plays are called correctly when there is so little margin for error.
 
College baseball implemented replay at the College World Series level in 2012 and the Super Regionals level in 2015. Meanwhile, college football implemented a replay system in the 2005 season starting with bowl games. Now, each conference uses its own replay system during regular season games.
 
Now with so much TV coverage of college softball, it's way overdue to implement a replay system using available technology to get the calls right.
 
As for the teams who make the WCWS each season, it looked like Minnesota, James Madison, Louisiana Lafayette, and Tulsa were the type of teams to crash the WCWS party this year. But, these four conference winners from outside the Pac-12, SEC, and Big 12 were snubbed as Regional hosts. Minnesota was obviously the most egregious as the No. 1/2 team in the country.
 
The sport will become even more popular when non-powerhouse teams and programs from different regions are shown more respect and given more opportunities to win their way to Oklahoma City.
 
The Pac-12, SEC, Florida State, and Oklahoma are producing elite teams each year. But, there are some other very good programs that should make it to the WCWS in future years, like Lafayette did in 2014 and Michigan in 2015.
 
When more teams are in the mix for OKC and when the umpiring is addressed to put the focus on the players, college softball will be ready to explode.

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