MONTICELLO, Ark. – The UAM softball team will take the No. 1 seed into this week’s inaugural Great American Conference Tournament.

The Cotton Blossoms won the regular season title last weekend with their three wins over Southwestern Oklahoma State University in the final conference series of the season. The wins gave the Blossoms a regular season record of 36-14 and a 21-5 mark in Great American play.

UAM has secured a place in the new history of the Great American Conference by winning the first regular season championship in the conference’s history, but the Blossoms are no strangers to league success.

The regular season championship is the eighth such title for the Cotton Blossoms. They won the Gulf South West Division crown seven times, in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2010. The Great American Conference has no divisions, so the 2012 title is a conference-wide honor.

The success has translated well into the post-season, as UAM has four NCAA South Region appearances in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2011, including one super-region appearance in 2010. No other softball program in Arkansas can claim such success.

The tournament will be important in and of itself, but this year’s winner will not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a new conference the Great American is not afforded an automatic bid for its tournament champion. In order to make the South Central Regional the Cotton Blossoms will need to finish in the top eight in the final Regional Poll, released after the championship tournaments this weekend. In order to secure a top spot in the region, UAM will have to win as many games as possible over the three days of the tournament, but even then a spot in the regional is not guaranteed.

UAM will face off with the No. 8 seeded Ouachita Baptist University Tigers at 2 p.m. in the opening round of play this Thursday up in Bentonville.

The Blossoms have already played one classic at the Tiger Athletic Complex this season, choosing Bentonville to host the UAM Five-State Classic back in February, going 6-2 against some of the best programs in the region.

Only time, and a little luck, will determine if the Blossoms will have a tournament championship and fifth regional appearance to add to their already impressive list of accolades this season. Follow the team as they advance through the field and (hopefully) into the Championship Game on Saturday.

The GAC will provide a live webcast of each contest played at the Tiger Athletic Complex.  The high-def web streams will be available to fans, parents, and alumni free of charge.  Please note that the two loser's bracket games from Memorial Park will not be webcast.

All of the Blossoms’ games will be broadcast live on KHBM. Jimmy Sledge will have the call alongside UAM Sports Information Director Michael Nienaber. Listeners in Monticello can tune to 93.7 and everyone else can listen to the simulcast at UAMsports.com at this link.

More information on the 2012 GAC Softball Tournament, including the full tournament schedule and links to hotel and broadcast information, is available at greatamericanconference.com.