It's not the typical Oklahoma softball season, but the Sooners are still one of the nation's best

Legendary Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer once famously said, "It's hard to be humble when you're No. 1."

Under head coach Patty Gasso, the standards for Oklahoma softball have been exceptionally high, and the Sooners have consistently delivered to those standards. Hard to argue with an unprecedented four consecutive national championships, including six of the last eight.

With continued success at a high level and a winning percentage of .925 over the last eight years, it's easy to become a little complacent and expect that same result year after year.

After losing five position starters, a couple of starting pitchers and more than 10 letter winners off of last year's senior-laden squad, it was logical to believe there would be a drop-off in production and results this season.

Sooners struggling compared to high expectations

The Sooners began the 2025 season ranked No. 3 in national preseason polls. After starting out 28-0, however, OU was able to regain its familiar top spot in the polls just a couple of weeks into the new season. Since that time, however, Oklahoma has gone just 9-5, including series losses against its last two SEC opponents.

OU snapped a two-game losing skid on Friday with a 4-0 shutout over 15th-ranked Mississippi State to improve to 37-5 overall and 11-5 in the conference. That's just two fewer than the Sooners' seven overall losses a year ago, but their present overall record is better than all but four other teams in Division-I softball. It also reflects the fact they are now a part of what most experts consider the best conference in college softball.

The Mississippi State series this weekend is Oklahoma's sixth conference series this season, and all but one (Missouri) has been against a team ranked in the top 25.

Because the Sooners have lost their last two SEC series, including two of three at home to a Tennessee team that is presently ranked No. 2 in the country, some fans are becoming concerned that the sky might finally be falling on the program that has ruled college softball over the past decade.

To those fair-weather fans who might be of that opinion, we say, hold your horses. While it's true that the 2025 Sooner softball team is not as dynamic offensively or in the pitching circle as Oklahoma has grown accustomed to in recent seasons, it is not a team void of top talent and determination.

Overall, the Sooners are averaging about the same number of runs per game (7.8) as a year ago, but they haven't been as consistent against good SEC pitching. Gasso, though, believes the Sooners are on the verge of breaking through offensively.

"This team is going to start clicking at a different cylinder, and you're going to know it," Gasso said after OU's win over Mississippi State on Friday.

Utah transfer Abigale Dayton led the way offensively for the Sooners on Friday with a 3-for-3 game at the plate.

"We know how to hit the ball, and we know how to have energy. So, just being able to mix the two," Dayton said afterward.

"When we start clicking that way," said Gasso, "we're going to be pretty unstoppable."

This would be the perfect time for everything to come together for OU. The Sooners have two games remaining at Love's Field with Mississippi State. Saturday's game was moved to Sunday as part of a doubleheader because of bad weather.

After that, OU has two huge conference series left in the regular season with No. 3 Texas next weekend at home and at No. 7 Florida the following weekend.