Why Texas Tech, Texas will win 2025 WCWS
It’s a Lone Star State Women’s College World Series this year, and reporter Jenni Carlson breaks down one reason Texas Tech will win and one reason Texas will win the WCWS.
For the first time since 2019, the NCAA softball champion will be a team not named the Oklahoma Sooners.
Instead, it’ll be NiJaree Canady and the Texas Tech Red Raiders against Teagan Kavan and the Texas Longhorns in the best-of-three Women’s College World Series finals.
The Red Raiders eliminated the four-time reigning champion Sooners with a 3-2 walk-off win Monday night in the WCWS semifinals.
The Longhorns ousted Tennessee earlier Monday with a 2-0 win.
The WCWS finals get underway at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Devon Park.
Experts from the USA TODAY Sports Network have predicted how the WCWS bracket will play out and who will win it all. Here are their picks.
WCWS championship series predictions: Texas vs. Texas Tech
Ryan Aber, The Oklahoman: Teagan Kavan is good. NiJaree Canady is better. It’s hard to see the Longhorns beating Canady twice in three days. Texas Tech in three games.
Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman: Until Oklahoma dominated its way through regionals and super regionals, Texas was my team to beat. But I’m going with Texas Tech because of the way it got to the championship series. Yes, it beat OU because NiJaree Canady is a transcendent pitcher. But the Red Raiders also won because of their offensive tenacity. After the Sooners tied the lead with a dramatic seventh-inning homer, it would’ve been easy for the Red Raiders to nosedive. Instead, a single, a double and a sacrifice fly later, they were on to the championship series. That grittiness will serve them well. Texas Tech in three games.
Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: This team just keeps defying the odds and it’s time I acknowledge it. I don’t think they go through the postseason without a single loss, but the Red Raiders have enough in the tank to keep pulling off miracles and doing it in a variety of ways. Texas Tech in three games.
Cora Hall, Knoxville News Sentinel: The Red Raiders have done nothing but impress during this WCWS run. NiJaree Canady has been spectacular and shown she’s worth even more than her $1 million deal, and Texas Tech has been the kind of gritty, tenacious team that has proven it can be the one to win it all. Plus, being able to pull off a straight steal of home in Oklahoma City is just the kind of magic you experience on a title run. Texas Tech in three games.
Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun: If this series is a sweep, it will go the way of the Red Raiders. However, if the Longhorns can force a third game, then the advantage goes to them. NiJa Canady is otherworldly, we all know that. Pitching three days in a row, though, is tough. I think in that third game, the ‘Horns explosive offense will do just enough to put runs on the board. On the other side, Teagan Kavan has gone to another level in the postseason, but the increased depth of UT’s staff in a three game series will make all the difference. Texas in three.
Erick Smith, USA Today: The remarkable run of Texas Tech behind the pitching of NiJaree Canady has seen the Red Raiders defeat some of the biggest programs in college softball, notably Florida State, UCLA and Oklahoma. But Texas has too much hitting and pitching depth in this series and will take home its first national title. Texas in two games.
Eddie Timanus, USA Today: NiJaree Canady has been nothing short of spectacular for the Red Raiders. But keeping a lineup like the Longhorns at bay for 21 innings will be too much even for the best arm in the game. The rubber match will be a squeaker, but Texas will finally claim its first title. Texas in three games.
Scott Wright, The Oklahoman: I would say Tech in two, but it feels like coach Gerry Glasco might try to rest NiJaree Canady at some point, since she’s thrown every pitch for the Red Raiders in this WCWS. This has been the hottest team in the game since mid-April. This week, the offense is doing just enough to back Canady’s dominance, and that will continue. Texas Tech in three games.
Final tally: Texas Tech 5, Texas 3.
