Top-ranked Oklahoma softball is the No. 1 overall seed, as expected, in the 2023 NCAA Softball Championship, which begins this week.
The two-time defending national champions will host Hofstra (29-25), the winners of the Colonial Athletic Association, in the Norman Regional, one of 16 regional host sites.
The other two teams who will compete in the double-elimination Norman Regional are former Big 12 foe and future SEC opponent Missouri (35-24) and Cal (33-19-1). OU will play Hofstra in the opening game on Friday, followed by the contest between Mizzou and Cal.
The Sooners, coached by Patty Gasso, in her 29th season as head coach, enter NCAA postseason play with a nation-best 51-1 record and a 43-game winning streak, the longest active win streak in Division I softball and just five shy of the all-time record.
This is the fourth consecutive year Oklahoma has been the No. 1 overall seed and the fifth time since 2007. The Sooners are hoping to repeat as national champions for a third straight year, which would tie them with UCLA (1988-90) as the only teams to win back-to-back-to-back national titles.
Oklahoma has been a top-16 national seed for 15 consecutive years.
The top four seeds in the 2023 NCAA Softball Championship are 1) Oklahoma, 2) UCLA (52-5), 3) Florida State (50-8) and 4) Tennessee (44-8). The Sooners beat both UCLA and Florida State during the regular season.
Oklahoma State is the No. 6 national seed and Texas, the Big 12 regular-season and Big 12 Tournament runner-up is the No. 13 seed. The Sooners, who are a combined 115-7 over the past two seasons, have beaten seven of the top-seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament this season and 10 of the top-16 seeds. OU is 15-0 this season against teams who are a top-16 national seed in this year’s NCAA Championship.