Conference USA will be represented by three schools in the upcoming NCAA Softball Tournament as the brackets were unveiled during a live telecast by ESPNEWS on Sunday night. C-USA Softball Tournament champion DePaul, who earned the league’s automatic bid with a 6-2 victory over Louisville in Saturday’s championship game, will be joined by the Cardinals and USF as both institutions earned at-large spots.

On the heels of winning their fourth-consecutive C-USA tournament, the 25th-ranked Blue Demons will open the tournament in Madison, Wis., with a region consisting of eighth-seeded Oregon State, Wisconsin and Wisconsin-Green Bay. DePaul, the No. 2 seed, opens play Friday against the tournament-host Badgers. The Blue Demons have reached the tournament all six years C-USA has sponsored softball and won 12 games in those appearances. In all, DePaul has made 11 NCAA appearances and advanced to the College World Series twice.

Louisville, who is making its second-consecutive trip to the tournament, won the C-USA regular season title for the first time in school history after sweeping DePaul in Chicago on the final weekend of conference play. U of L travels to South Bend, Ind., for regional play where the Cards will be joined by host Notre Dame, ninth-seeded Northwestern and Albany. The Cards also drew the region-host Fighting Irish in their first game on Friday.

USF reached the 40-win plateau with a pair of victories at the C-USA Tournament, which helped the Bulls land their third-consecutive bid to the tournament. The Bulls will be in Gainesville, Fla., where the 13th-seeded Florida Gators will serve as regional hosts. Joining the Gators and Bulls are two other schools that call the Sunshine State home, future C-USA member UCF and Bethune Cookman. USF will play the Golden Knights in its first regional game.

The tournament consists of 16, four-team Regionals, eight, two-team Super Regionals and the week-long College Women’s World Series to be held in Oklahoma City, Okla., June 2-8. Regional play begins May 20-22 on selected college campuses. The three bids by Conference USA schools gives the league 16 total appearances in six years.

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