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Oklahoma softball: Is this year’s team the best Sooner squad all-time?

By Chip Rouse

CHIBA, JAPAN - AUGUST 11: Keilani Johanna Ricketts #10 of United States pitches against Japan during their Playoff Round match at ZOZO Marine Stadium on day ten of the WBSC Women's Softball World Championship on August 11, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images)
CHIBA, JAPAN - AUGUST 11: Keilani Johanna Ricketts #10 of United States pitches against Japan during their Playoff Round match at ZOZO Marine Stadium on day ten of the WBSC Women's Softball World Championship on August 11, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images) /
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NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 3: A member of the Oklahoma Sooners spirit squad celebrates a touchdown against the West Virginia Mountaineers October 3, 2015 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 44-24.(Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK – OCTOBER 3: A member of the Oklahoma Sooners spirit squad celebrates a touchdown against the West Virginia Mountaineers October 3, 2015 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated West Virginia 44-24.(Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

The race not just to be the best this year, but the best of all-time

That brings us forward to May 2019 and the quest by the current Oklahoma team to etch its name above all the rest of the greatest Sooner softball team ever.

Without reaching the finish line first with a WCWS trophy in hand, “the greatest” will not be a legacy by which this team with be recognized, despite all of its other great achievements this season.

By statistical measure, Oklahoma is the best team in the country this season. The Sooners are the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s NCAA Championship for only the second time in school history. That other time, by the way, was in 2013, and we know how that team finished out the season.

Aside from being No. 1 in the country in the poll and in national seeding, Oklahoma ranks first in hitting (team batting average .359), pitching (staff ERA 1.10)  and fielding (.987 fielding percentage and a nation-fewest 16 errors). In addition, the Sooners lead all NCAA Division I softball programs in on-base percentage (.449), slugging percentage (.661).

Former NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells always said: “You are what your record says you are,” and Oklahoma’s 51-3 record this season says they are really good.

But are they the greatest Sooner softball team of all-time?

The 2019 Sooners have plenty of on-the-field numbers and momentum going for them as they enter Super Regional weekend, stage two of the postseason race, and head into the homestretch. What happens over the next several weeks will determine this team’s place in Sooner and college softball history.

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