With the conclusion of Week 12, there is only one week remaining in the 2026 NCAA Softball season. Entering the crucial final week of the season, I figured that I would switch things up a bit. The first article of the week will be the power rankings, and the second article will be a scenario-spotting guide, going through what every team needs to have happen to end up in all possible seeds they still have available. Also, there weren’t really too many fantastic or awful performances this week, so I didn’t have much vitriol built up for a “good, bad, and ugly” style piece. With all of that being said, let’s take a look at the current standings heading into Week 13.
San Jose State Spartans – 15-30, 7-15 MW (Eliminated)
Now, let’s take a look at the final regular season Mountain West Softball power rankings for the 2026 season.
at Colorado State (23-24) – April 30, 6:00 p.m. MST, Mountain West Network
at Colorado State (23-24) – May 1, 4:00 p.m. MST, Mountain West Network
at Colorado State (23-24) – May 2, 12:00 p.m. MST, Mountain West Network
After a heartbreaking, 9-inning, 4-3 loss to UNLV to open a crucial late-season series, GCU rebounded by taking each of the final two games, run-ruling the Rebels 10-0 in Game 2 and holding off a Rebs seventh-inning rally to take Game 3 by a 4-2 final. With Nevada’s series-ending loss to Fresno State, the Lopes have made it so that a regular-season title is just a couple of steps away heading into the final week of the regular season. GCU’s dream season is back on track, hence why they are back in the #1 spot.
The Lopes will head to Fort Collins this weekend for a matchup with the Colorado State Rams. CSU has nearly clinched a spot in the conference tournament already after a road sweep of Utah State, but their seeding is far from assured, with fourth through sixth being just about as likely as each other. The Rams do have a reason to play hard, so GCU cannot take them lightly here. Although, given the result of the Rams’ previous home series against Nevada (swept, 36-10 combined score), even taking the Rams lightly may not be a problem.
The Lopes are now in the drivers’ seat for the regular-season title, and the #1 seed in the MW Tournament. The Lopes can clinch if they win this final series against the Rams, but they can also clinch with a single win, along with a single Wolf Pack loss. All the Lopes need to do is exactly what they have done the entire season thus far: keep winning. Sounds easy enough for this squad, doesn’t it?
at UNLV (28-20) – April 30, 6:00 p.m. PDT, Mountain West Network
at UNLV (28-20) – May 1, 3:00 p.m. PDT, Mountain West Network
at UNLV (28-20) – May 2, 1:00 p.m. PDT, Mountain West Network
Nevada started out their week by winning three straight games, easily taking down Northern Colorado before winning the first two games against Fresno State off of back-to-back Hannah Di Genova walk-off home runs; Nevada’s first and second seventh-inning walk-offs of the season. Unfortunately for Pack fans, Nevada remembered their addiction of losing at least one home conference game per series, leaving 11 runners on base in a narrow 5-4 loss, one where the Wolf Pack couldn’t figure out how to score a single run off of Alyssa Loza: the worst starting pitcher in the Mountain West Conference. Nevada went from being just a game back of GCU for a conference title to two, with next to no hope of earning the right to host the conference tournament in back-to-back years.
The Wolf Pack cannot take any time to feel sorry for themselves, because on deck is the single most important series of the season: a road trip to Las Vegas to take on despised rival UNLV. UNLV is coming off of a series loss to the Lopes, where freshman pitcher Lauren Fettic revealed herself to have team-carrying capabilities that could be a massive problem down the stretch. The Rebels also have one of the only offenses in the conference that can match Nevada’s hard-hitting capabilities, meaning that the Wolf Pack are likely in for a dogfight that they would prefer to avoid at this point in the season.
After the Wolf Pack’s loss to the Bulldogs, this series will most likely decide the conference’s #2 seed. Nevada realistically needs to sweep UNLV to keep the Lopes in their sights, which is something that the Wolf Pack has done in a three-game series precisely once (2021), which was in Reno, not in Vegas. Nevada’s goal, then, should be a series win, which would end up clinching the #2 seed, as well as the second and final first-round bye. I really do not believe that the bye matters to the Wolf Pack as much as beating UNLV, though. I highly recomment that you tune into this series, it will be an absolute slugfest.
vs. Nevada (36-15) – April 30, 6:00 p.m. PDT, Mountain West Network
vs. Nevada (36-15) – May 1, 3:00 p.m. PDT, Mountain West Network
vs. Nevada (36-15) – May 2, 1:00 p.m. PDT, Mountain West Network
UNLV began Week 12 in dramatic fashion, with star freshman pitcher Lauren Fettic going the complete distance in a 9-inning, 155-pitch, 9-strikeout masterpiece, scoring an upset 4-3 win over top-seeded Grand Canyon on the road. With all the momentum in the world, the Rebels then proceeded to go scoreless over the next 11 innings, being run-ruled 10-0 in Game 2, before nearly completing a four-run, seventh-inning comeback in Game 3, falling just short on a game-ending double play to lose 4-2. The Rebels now have no chance of taking home a conference title, but that does not make their next series any less important.
UNLV will host rival Nevada this weekend for their final series of the season. Nevada is coming off of a series win over Fresno State, albeit one that featured yet another frustrating home loss that has all but knocked them out of conference title contention. The Wolf Pack feature the most devastating offense in the conference, along with a pitching staff that can best be described as “inconsistent.” UNLV looks slightly outmatched on paper here, but they have not lost a home series to the Wolf Pack since 2016, so expect a typical dogfight.