It may be time for the NCAA softball committee to take a second look, or maybe even a first one at the Southland Conference.

The selection committed is usually pretty quick to dismiss the league when it comes to awarding postseason tournament bids. The league gets little if any national attention during the regular season, so it makes sense.

But the entire landscape of college athletics is shifting and smaller conferences are finding ways to compete as parity continues to grow in all sports other than football.

That may sound strange to many who don’t watch the games closely, but Southland Conference softball is doing pretty well on the national scene.

The Southland is a one-bid league in softball when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, but over the last three years the league has made a strong impression, one that at least deserves to be talked about.

McNeese State has been to the tournament the two previous seasons while Southeastern Louisiana made it this year. They have both left their marks, showing they belong and maybe giving the rest of the teams reason for hope.

Over the last three postseasons, the two SLC programs have won more than their share of games. McNeese has gone 5-4 while the Lions finished 2-2.

The combined 7-6 record is the best three-year run the SLC has ever made in the tournament. The teams have also played in the regional finals in each year.

That should at least get the conversation started.

“I think if you look at what our league has done over the last three years, that we have at least should be given the look,” said McNeese softball head coach James Landreneau. “It has shown that our league is very competitive when we play against tournament teams.”

During this span, Southland teams have beaten some big-name programs. McNeese and SLU are 4-0 against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, beaten the Big Ten twice and a Pac-12 club.

“That should open some eyes,” said Landreneau, whose Cowgirls played 13 games — four wins, nine losses — against opponents who made this year’s tournament.

College softball coaches have certainly noticed.

Over the last few years big programs have been more than willing to come to Lake Charles to play McNeese. They would not do that if the team wasn’t at least competitive and the facilities adequate.

They have too many other options yet they show up each and every year to play the Cowgirls if it isn’t worth it.

This season it was defending national champion Oklahoma who came to town to play not once but twice against McNeese. Both games were won by the Sooners but they were far from expected blowouts.

No. 7 at the time Washington showed in 2023 and promptly got beat by McNeese. That only foreshadowed what would take place in the NCAA regional.

The Cowgirls played at Washington and even beat the Huskies once and had them down by six in the top of the seventh in the title game

While Washington rallied to win and keep McNeese from the Southland’s first-ever regional title, it went to show just how close the conference was to getting there.

Southeastern got to the title round of its regional this season, proving it is not a one-team league anymore. The Lions should have been given a second bid last year when you consider it took the Cowgirls a walk-off home run in extra innings to win at home the league title over Southeastern.

If nothing else the Southland teams have been more interesting than say Ole Miss was from the mighty SEC this year. The Rebels finished 13th, or dead last in their conference at 7-17 yet earned a tournament bid.

For the record, they got beat two straight, including losing to Ivy League champ Princeton.

I think McNeese, with its 40 wins, once again could have done at least that.

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Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com