NCAA Softball will allow the top teams from each of six different regions to host regionals. The remaining two regional hosts will likely be Pac-10 teams, since the Pac-10 presently has the top three teams in the country.

This means that for the second straight season, No. 1 Washington (54-6), No. 2 Arizona (50-7) and No. 3 UCLA (36-10-1), the defending champion, will all host regionals. No. 4 Oklahoma (55-6), the Big 12's best team, and No. 6 Fresno State (47-12), the class of the WAC, will undoubtedly be top seeds and regional hosts as well. No team other than Arizona, UCLA, and Fresno State has won a national championship since 1987.

The remaining regional hosts will depend on the outcome of conference tournaments. Either No. 7 LSU (53-10) of the SEC and No. 8 Southern Mississippi (54-10) of Conference USA will ultimately be the top team in the south, while the winner of the Big Ten tournament--either No. 14 Michigan (40-13-1) or No. 15 Iowa (42-12)--, will likely host the remaining regional.

If Harvard ends up in a regional with the Big Ten champion or somehow manages to stay in a regional with the other northeastern teams, then the Crimson, as a sixth seed, would likely open against either the southern team that does not host, or a fourth- or fifth-place Pac-10 team like No. 5 Arizona State (39-16) or No. 9 Stanford (44-14).

As if the pressure of playing the top teams in the nation in the NCAA Regionals wasn't enough, finals begin on May 18 as well. The Harvard Registrar's Office, of course, makes absolutely no exceptions to its rules.

"We're going to have to bring a university administrator with us," Allard said. "Finals need to be given as close as possible to the actual date and the actual time."

So while most of the Crimson opponents in the tournament will have been done with school for at least two weeks, the Harvard players will be taking finals in between games. For the rest of the week, the Crimson players will need to find a way to keep their heads in the books and in the games.