Often regarded as one of the premier nonconference events on the regular-season college softball calendar, the 2025 edition of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic did not disappoint.

Featuring another star-studded field full of former national champions and emergent powers, fans both in-person in Cathedral City, California and watching all across the world on FloCollege were treated to some of the best of the best that you’ll find in college softball today — and maybe some early previews for future matchups at the Women’s College World Series, too.

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Speaking of the WCWS, now that we’re through the Mary Nutter and chugging along through the last couple of weeks on the nonconference slate, let’s debrief a bit here and talk about which of the squads who were at the Mary Nutter are among those most likely to reach Oklahoma City. 

Spoiler alert: Don’t be shocked if multiple Mary Nutter squads will be among those playing for a national championship in a few months.

Here’s a look at five big-time college softball programs who competed at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic to watch out for for the rest of this season:

UCLA Softball

The biggest and most established name in college softball that competed at this year’s Mary Nutter, the sport’s most successful program of all-time once again looks primed and ready to make another run toward national championship No. 14. 

The last program not named Oklahoma to have won it all at the WCWS (back in 2019), UCLA is almost always jostling it out among the nation’s elites and is well on pace to reach 40 wins for the 12th straight (completed) season, holding a 14-2 overall record at the conclusion of the Mary Nutter. 

Though not in the Pac-12 Conference anymore — which it departed as back-to-back reigning regular-season conference champions — UCLA’s pedigree shouldn’t be affected anytime soon by now competing in the Big Ten Conference alongside fellow Pac-12 exiles Washington and Oregon, as evidenced by the fact that it was very strong following a 5-1 stint at the Mary Nutter last week. 

Leading hitter Jordan Woolery had a hit in five of six games at the tournament (along with three-run home runs in wins against Tennessee and Arkansas), while Kaitlyn Terry had three pitching victories against Southeastern Conference foes in Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas, driving the point home that the Bruins are one of the nation’s top threats to finally upend Oklahoma as the holder of college softball’s top prize.

Duke Softball

Duke went a perfect 5-0 at the Mary Nutter, capped off by a final-day, 1-0 victory over fellow WCWS contender UCLA on Sunday in which ace Cassidy Curd further proved why she’s one of the nation’s best arms in a complete-game, three-hit shutout masterclass against a Bruins lineup loaded to the teeth. 

A program that is still less than a decade old, the Blue Devils mostly proved doubters wronged last season when they won 52 games and qualified for the WCWS in just their seventh season of existence, but in case there are still any lingering questions about if Duke can truly contend for a national championship, they were all but erased after a stellar Mary Nutter in which it outscored opponents by a combined 20-1 with two top-25 wins over five games. 

Curd stole the show as she threw 18 shutout innings across four appearances at the Mary Nutter — adding an eight-inning, nine-strikeout gem in the Blue Devils’ event opener against Nebraska on top of her performance against UCLA — but hitters like infielder Ana Gold (six RBIs at the Mary Nutter) were also sensational all week, too. 

There’s no hangover in Durham following the historic highs reached by the Blue Devils on the diamond a year ago, and if you want an unconventional national championship pick to root for this season, look no further.

Tennessee Softball

No team in college softball through the first few weeks of the 2025 season has shown that they have a deeper pitching staff than the Lady Vols (national-low 0.99 team ERA as of Thursday evening), and they proved that despite a pair of losses at the Mary Nutter to Oregon and UCLA. 

Tennessee shut out Oregon State while only allowing one run in their games against Rutgers, Minnesota and Oregon, with the Lady Vols’ lethal starting trio of Erin Nuwer, Karlyn Pickens and Sage Mardjetko all picking up wins at the Mary Nutter. Pickens had the best performance of the bunch, ironically, in a loss; against the Ducks, the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Year and first team All-American had taken a no-hitter into the sixth inning and had only allowed one hit through seven frames as a scoreless game went into extras, to which Oregon then won the game on a passed ball despite a 13-strikeout, complete-game outing from Pickens. 

All three of the Lady Vols’ defeats on the season have been to ranked teams, and when you mix their elite pitching with some red-hot hitters like outfielder Taylor Pannell (eight home runs this season, including two at the Mary Nutter), few have them outside the pool of true WCWS contenders at this point in the season.

Arkansas Softball

Having started the year on a 14-game winning streak before losing to UCLA in their Mary Nutter finale, the Razorbacks have received plenty of early-season attention, and for good reason. 

Down in Cathedral City, the Hogs blanked and run-ruled Rutgers, Cal State Fullerton and Baylor plus picked up a 6-2 win over Loyola Marymount, and though they were unable to pick up a signature win to close out the event against the Bruins, their place among the best of the best in the always jam-packed SEC hasn’t changed very much. 

Junior left-hander Robyn Herron appears amid a breakout season as she’s up to a 5-0 record with a miniscule 0.50 ERA as of Thursday evening, and she continued her hot streak in the circle at the Mary Nutter with a five-inning one-hitter (with eight strikeouts) against Cal State Fullerton and four innings of no-hit work (with six strikeouts) against Baylor. 

As for in the batter’s box, former Texas player and utility Courtney Day has also quickly emerged into one of the nation’s best impact transfers, further proved by way of a six-RBI Mary Nutter with homers both against Rutgers and Loyola Marymount as she currently ranks second on the team in both long bombs (six) and RBIs (18). Yet to make it out of the Super Regional round in its program’s history, Arkansas most definitely has the talent to finally make it to the biggest stage in the sport, and being battle-tested in places like the Mary Nutter will help the Hogs prepare for what’s to come.

San Diego State Softball

Sure, there are some major power-conference names that are omitted from this list, but SDSU has earned the right to be mentioned among the four other teams above.

A mid-major worth keeping your eyes on as the 2025 season progresses, San Diego State — last season’s Mountain West Conference regular-season champion and owner of three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament under former UCLA superstar Stacey Nuveman-Deniz — entered the Mary Nutter with a pair of top-25 wins (over Alabama and Missouri) under its belt, as well as having taken four-time defending national champion Oklahoma to extra innings on opening weekend.

 The Aztecs then left the Mary Nutter with a 4-1 event record, losing to Oregon before four wins on the bounce over UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, Saint Mary’s and Hawaii in that order. Catcher/designated player Cali Decker was awesome in those victories, notching at least two hits in every Aztecs win and finishing with six RBIs overall for the event, while Dee Dee Hernandez was equally as great on the mound with a complete-game, two-hit shutout against UC Santa Barbara, a five-inning two-hitter against Hawaii and a save in relief against Saint Mary’s. 

With games against the likes of UCLA, Arizona, Utah and more still on the Aztecs’ schedule, all signs point to them not simply being satisfied with making it to Regionals and that making it to Oklahoma City for what would be the first time in program history is on their minds.

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