With no Oklahoma Sooners or Oklahoma State Cowgirls at the Women's College World Series this year, no team in particular is getting that in-state home-field advantage down the road in Oklahoma City that the rest of college softball whines about on an annual basis. So with many OU fans still likely to make the short trip to Devon Park over the next nine days, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy, only somewhat jokingly, plead his case on why Sooner Nation should support the Crimson Tide during the WCWS.
"Well first to all the Oklahoma fans that are looking for a team to cheer for, it's right here," Murphy said. "We have the same color pallette. You know, A-M-A at the bottom, you could almost think it says Oklahoma. Just pretend it does. So I'll take those 10,000 fans cheering for us."
Coach Murph is always recruiting 😂
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 27, 2026
Will Oklahoma fans be cheering for Bama in the WCWS? pic.twitter.com/59eRvviaLv
Sooners have better WCWS rooting interests than Alabama
It's known around college softball the support the Sooners get from nearby OU fans during their annual appearances in the Women's College World Series. The Sooners this season, though, slipped in Super Regionals to Mississippi State to end their nine-year streak of getting to the WCWS. That leaves local softball fans with no real rooting interest at Devon Park.
The eight-team field includes Mississippi State, Texas Tech, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, UCLA, Arkansas and Nebraska. If it's conference bragging rights OU fans want, then over half of the field is from the SEC, including Bama.
However, outside of Texas, there's probably not a team in the field OU fans want to root against more than Bama. Although most of the newly started rivalry stems from football, there's still a hatred toward the Crimson Tide from OU fans, especially after Bama just ended the Sooners' season in the College Football Playoff.
It was still worth the effort from Murphy, though, while looking for any advantage he can get since he apparently already knows not enough of his own fans will travel from Alabama to make a difference. It will also be easy for him to look out at all the crimson at Devon Park and pretend it's there for his team.
Read more: College softball still chasing Patty Gasso even without Oklahoma at WCWS
If OU fans really are looking for a new temporary rooting interest, even if just to help grow interest, there are actually plenty of options with multiple OU connections throughout the eight teams.
Although Mississippi State ended the Sooners' season, the Bulldogs are led by former OU first baseman Samantha Ricketts and are the biggest underdogs of the tournament while making their first WCWS appearance.
Arkansas is also making its WCWS debut. Not only are the Razorbacks closest to Sooner Nation geographically, but the coaching staff includes Patty Gasso's son, DJ, as hitting coach and is led by Courtney Deifel, who was briefly a graduate assistant at OU under Gasso.
Before this year, Arkansas and Mississippi State were the only two SEC programs left without a WCWS appearance.
Nebraska also has a familiar face in USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Jordy Frahm, who spent her first two years at OU before transferring to her home state Cornhuskers. OU fans, though, know her as Jordy Bahl before she got married once back in Nebraska. There's also no way OU fans will cheer for Nebraska in any sport no matter the connection.
The easiest rooting option, though, is always whoever is playing Red River rival and defending national champion Texas, which lost to Tennessee 6-3 in its first game on Thursday. The Longhorns will face elimination on Friday against Mississippi State.
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