For the first time in more than a decade, the Michigan softball team will open the NCAA Tournament on the road.

The Wolverines learned Sunday night that they will travel to Ulmer Stadium in Louisville, Ky., for a double-elimination NCAA regional tournament that begins Friday. They'll open with a rematch against the team that ended their 2011 season and could face the team with the most wins in college softball this season.

Michigan senior Amanda Chidester celebrates the Wolverines' Big Ten title-clinching win against Purdue Saturday at Alumni Field. Michigan will leave Ann Arbor for an NCAA regional for the first time since 2001.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

Being on the road is an unusual scenario for Michigan, which is making its 18th consecutive and 20th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance. The Wolverines hosted a regional at Alumni Field in each of the past 10 seasons, winning eight of them.

But Michigan coach Carol Hutchins has been preparing her team for a postseason road trip for weeks. The Wolverines were 27th in the RPI rankings before this weekend’s three-game series sweep of Purdue.

The top 16 seeds in the tournament are given the option to host regional tournaments on their home field.

"I told the kids a couple weeks ago (we wouldn't host) so they could quit trying so hard to win so we could play at home," Hutchins said after Michigan clinched its fifth-straight Big Ten title on Saturday. "I just told them, ‘Who cares?' We’ve seen people come onto this field and leave with the trophy.

"So let’s just go to somebody else’s field and get one."

Just last year, in fact, Michigan was ranked No. 2 in the country when it was upset, 2-1, by No. 24 Kentucky in a regional championship game in Ann Arbor.

The last time Michigan wasn’t at home for an NCAA regional was 2001, when it went to Tuscaloosa, Ala., and eliminated the host team, No. 7-ranked Alabama, before beating South Florida in the championship game.

Michigan will open this year's tournament with a Friday rematch against at-large selection Kentucky (29-28), which was a sub-.500 team before ending its regular season with a three-game sweep of No. 22-ranked LSU. The Wolverines beat Kentucky 3-0 in February, with freshman pitcher Haylie Wagner throwing a six-hit shutout.

The regional won't be Michigan's first trip to Louisville this season. The Wolverines played at Louisville's Red and Black Tournament in March and lost 2-1 to the Cardinals in the opening game.

Louisville (53-3) is 25-0 at home this season and enters the tournament with the best record in college softball. A perceived soft schedule, however, resulted in drawing the No. 15 overall tournament seed. The Cardinals open against Horizon League champion Valparaiso (42-17).

During its tournament selection show, ESPN analyst Jessica Mendoza called the Louisville Regional the “toughest and most exciting” of the 16 regional tournaments.

Sixteen regional champions advance to the Super Regional round on May 24-27. Winners of those three-game series play in the Women’s College World Series May 31-June 6 in Oklahoma City.

The winner of the Louisville Regional plays a Super Regional against the winner of the Tuscaloosa Regional, which includes No. 2 seed Alabama.

California, Alabama, Arizona State and Oklahoma are the top four seeds in the tournament. The Southeastern Conference (9) and Pac-12 (8) have the most schools represented. (Full bracket)

Northwestern was the only Big Ten team to earn an at-large bid. The Wildcats will play in the Austin Regional and opens against No. 6 seed Texas.