After heading to Atlanta for the NCAA Regionals in the past two seasons, Auburn will have a bit more traveling on its hands this season.

The Tigers (39-17) are headed to Seattle for the NCAA Regional tournament this season, where they’ll take on BYU (38-16) in the first round Thursday.

“BYU is going to be a tough match-up in a very tough regional,” Auburn head coach Tina Deese said. “We have our work cut out for us. BYU is a good team. I know our team is very excited about the challenge in front of us and we are ready to get to work.”

No. 12 national seed Washington (34-14) — the host — and Portland State (34-16) are the other two teams at the regional.

Auburn will be facing BYU for the first time. The Tigers are 0-4 all-time against Washington having last played the Huskies in 2010, losing 5-0. The Tigers are 2-0 against Portland State with the last meeting coming in 2007.

The Seattle Regional is Auburn’s eighth berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2002. Auburn is 6-14 all-time in NCAA Regional play and has advanced to the regional championship game one time, with that coming in 2006 in Tucson, Ariz. Auburn lost to eventual national champion Arizona 4-2.

If Auburn wins Thursday, it takes on the Washington-Portland State winner Friday. If the Tigers lose, they take on the Washington-Portland State loser in an elimination game.

This is the first time since 2004, when the Tigers traveled to Stanford, Calif., that they’ve headed to the Pacific coast for the regional round.

BYU, which won its third straight Mountain West title last week, is the No. 40 team in the latest RPI rankings.

Washington, which finished 9-12 in the competitive Pac-10, is the No. 11 team in the RPI, and Portland State, champion of the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, were ranked No. 153 in last week’s RPI standings.

Auburn, ranked No. 29 in the RPI, pulled off an upset over No. 3 Florida in the SEC Tournament last week — the Tigers’ first tourney win since 2005 — before bowing out to Tennessee in the semifinals.