the committee is doing and has said it will do: not rely so much on geography in placing #2s in each region. For example, last year here is a selection of the #2 placements:
Minn @ #2 UCLA
Baylor @ #4 UF
Stanford @ #6 Arkansas
Ole Miss @ #11 Arizona
Ore@ #12 Texas
VT @ #15 Arizona St
Mich @ #16 Washington
That's 7 of the regionals with #2s traveling at least 1/2 way or more across the country.

I'm not saying that the NCAA won't be dumb and inconsistent, because there is a long history of that happening across all sports. But the softball committee has specifically said it won't use geography as the defining factor in assigning #2s to regionals.
[Post edited by King of Hokies at 05/04/2022 2:51PM]