After months of hints and what seemed like an endless wait, Arizona softball has the perfect holiday gift for its fans. The Wildcats released a full schedule on Wednesday that includes a total of eight
matchups against Oklahoma, Texas, and LSU.
News of the matchups against Oklahoma and LSU came out when those two schools released their schedules. Arizona also released its Big 12 schedule in October. The rest of the slate awaited signed contracts.
The Wildcats will begin practice during the first full week of January to prepare for a schedule that promises to be a major challenge right from the start. Nonconference play will feature 14 games against eight teams that made the NCAA tournament last season. Five games will be played against two teams that made the Women’s College World Series. Every nonconference tournament will feature at least one team that played in the NCAA postseason in 2025.
The Big 12 will add 12 more games against four teams that made the tournament. Those include one that made the Women’s College World Series.
Between nonconference and conference play, Arizona will play five games against the two teams that played in the 2025 championship series. It will play three more games against one more of the teams that made the national semifinals, making it eight games against three of the final four teams standing in last year’s postseason.
Games begin with the Candrea Classic at Hillenbrand Stadium from Thursday, Feb. 5 through Sunday, Feb. 8. The Wildcats’ debut tournament starts with a doubleheader against Southern Utah on Thursday, but the showcase is a three-game series against the Oklahoma Sooners that runs from Friday through Sunday. It’s the first of three nonconference series against top-level teams.
Arizona takes a bit of a breather with the Bear Down Fiesta from Thursday, Feb. 12 through Sunday, Feb. 15. The second tournament includes one game each against Drake and Creighton. Those games will be played the first and last days of the tournament.
In between the one-off games, Arizona will play two doubleheaders on Friday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 14. Both days will feature an earlier game against Coastal Carolina and a later game against Utah Valley.
UA gets right back at it on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at Rita. Nevada comes to town for a midweek game.
The Wildcats hit the road to help Stanford break in its new softball facility at the DeMarini Invitational. The Cardinal played in a football stadium last year as the new softball field was being built. The renovations were supposed to cost just under $40 million.
It won’t be an easy weekend. Arizona plays on doubleheader on Thursday, Feb. 19. The first game is against Boise State, then the Wildcats face the host Cardinal.
The next day features the first of two games against defending national champion Texas. That game has several storylines, but the biggest one is the Wildcats facing former outfielder Kaiah Altmeyer. UA plays Santa Clara on Saturday, Feb. 21, then wraps things up with a second game against the Longhorns on Sunday.
The Wildcats return to Hillenbrand for week four. They will host the Hillenbrand Invitational, which features four games against three teams.
The Hillenbrand Invitational gets started on Friday, Feb. 27 with a doubleheader against Long Beach State and Minnesota. Saturday features a game against Howard before the Wildcats finish with another game against LBSU on Sunday, Mar. 1.
The four tournaments complete 21 of the Wildcats’ 25 out-of-conference games for 2026. The Wildcats will have a midweek game against GCU on Tuesday, Mar. 24. That will be part of a seven-game homestand that includes Big 12 series against Arizona State and Baylor.
The final three will be played during the conference bye week when Arizona travels to Baton Rouge, LA to take on LSU in a series. Those games will be played between Friday, Apr. 10 and Sunday, Apr. 12.
Arizona will face a more challenging Big 12 slate this year than last if only because of where the games against the top teams are played. Last season, the Wildcats got to host Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The trio were presumed to be the teams that would battle for the title. While UA and TTU lived up to that, OSU did not.
This season, Arizona must play in Lubbock and Stillwater. It also plays Baylor, which was not on the schedule last season.
The postseason begins on Thursday, May 7 with the Big 12 Softball Tournament from Thursday, May 7 through Saturday, May 9. The championship tournament will once again be held at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.
The NCAA Tournament begins with regionals from Friday, May 15 through Sunday, May 17. The super regional round runs from Friday, May 22 through Sunday, May 24. The season wraps up with the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park. That is played from Thursday, May 28 through Friday, June 5.
