Wins: interest and investment are the pillars of any successful sports program in 2026. Oregon’s remarkable 2025 season certainly served as a shot-in-the-arm for all three of those proponents.

First, the wins, the Ducks won 54 times last season, up from 30 and 38 in the two seasons prior. Not only did they do that, but head coach Melyssa Lombardi’s squad made it to the NCAA Women’s College World Series after selling out Jane Sanders Stadium while hosting a Super Regional.

Next, the interest in Oregon’s incredible season has softball in Eugene at an all-time high. Interest around 2024’s freshman class, which was one of the best in the country, parlayed with an exciting brand of speed-centric softball, has almost surely led to an increase in preseason ticket sales.

And lastly, and maybe most importantly in the current landscape of college sports, investment. Oregon softball almost surely saw an uptick in NIL investment, with transfer commitments from Elon Butler (University of California, Berkeley), Addison Amaral (University of Notre Dame) and Amari Harper (Texas A&M University), helping retool some of the holes graduations left in Oregon’s roster.

“I am impressed with Elon’s power at the plate,” Lombardi said of Butler, who has faced the Ducks each of the past two seasons at Cal, according to GoDucks. “She can change the game with one swing. She has faced elite pitching her entire career and has excelled. She can turn a single into a double with her ability to run. I also like her athleti- cism and versatility on defense. Elon’s a competitor and will be a great addition to Version 8.”

And while buzz and investment alone don’t translate to wins, it does help significantly to separate Oregon from the rest of the Big Ten — a conference not known for its softball prowess historically.

UCLA (winners in 2019) and Washington (runner-up in 2018) are the last two now-Big Ten teams to make it to the final. Before then, Michigan was the first Big Ten finalist in 2015.

Of course, the newcomers, mainly the Ducks and UCLA, are plenty prolific. Both appeared in the College World Series and are known as modern powerhouses of the West Coast. As for the rest of the conference, Washington, Northwestern and Nebraska are historically solid teams. However, the rest of the conference standings typically fluctuate significantly year-to-year, leaving Oregon in a prime spot to compete annually.

The Ducks almost always play in some of the nation’s top nonconference tournaments to get ready for Big Ten play and boost their resume. Lombardi and Co. also benefit from being on the West Coast and being able to recruit from California. Oregon has 11 players from California on its roster currently and had 10 last year.

The Ducks will open the regular season against Missouri at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. on Feb. 6.