The Florida State Seminoles are back in familiar territory—hosting the NCAA Tallahassee Regional—and experts are already penciling them in for a return to the Women's College World Series. After missing out in 2024, FSU is hungry to get back to Oklahoma City, and the road starts this weekend.

As the No. 9 overall seed, the Seminoles will face a regional field that includes UCF, Jacksonville State, and Stetson. Softball America has called this one of the easier regionals in the country, and now The Athletic's Molly Keshin and Stewart Mandel have gone a step further: they're not only picking FSU to win the regional but also to take down UCLA in the Super Regional round to punch their ticket to the WCWS.

That's a bold call, especially considering the Super Regional would be played on UCLA's campus, where the Bruins are a dominant 18-2 this season. But FSU has already beaten UCLA once this year, 11-7, and the Seminoles are a respectable 13-4 on the road. It sets up a classic battle between a young, hungry team and a powerhouse program.

Speaking of young, this FSU squad is loaded with freshmen and sophomores, but they play like veterans. Head coach Lonni Alameda has led this group to both the ACC regular-season and tournament titles, and it all starts with shortstop Isa Torres. The potential National Player of the Year is hitting an eye-popping .542 with 16 home runs and—get this—zero errors all season. She's not alone: Jaysoni Beachum is hitting .404, and the pitching staff is anchored by ACC Pitcher of the Year Jazzy Francik (1.75 ERA) and a reliable No. 2 in Ashtyn Danley (2.04), who also happens to be the team's fourth-leading hitter.

The journey begins Friday at noon ET when FSU takes on Stetson in the regional opener, airing on ESPNU. If you're a Seminoles fan, this is the kind of team that makes you believe the drought is about to end.