It was a somewhat discouraging outcome for the Oklahoma Sooners when the NCAA Softball Championship bracket was revealed on Sunday, but history has proven that doesn't guarantee a disappointing result in the end.
The Sooners, despite proving all season to be more worthy than both teams, were deemed the No. 3 national seed behind SEC rivals Alabama and Texas, respectively. OU, though, still got what's most important while getting a Regional and Super Regional at Love's Field in Norman to secure home-field advantage the rest of the way, including at the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City. Having that 3 next to their name also didn't affect the Sooners the last time.
History and matchup favors Sooners as No. 3 seed in NCAA Softball Championship
OU was last the No. 3 national seed for the NCAA tournament a decade ago in 2016 behind Florida and Michigan, respectively. Just like this year, it was also head-scratching in 2016 when the Sooners got the No. 3 seed after entering the NCAA tournament at 47-7 and after sweeping the Big 12 with a regular-season and tournament title.
Read more: Oklahoma’s NCAA Softball Championship seeding defies common sense
The Sooners still ended up as national champions in 2016, though, while No. 1 Florida didn't even make it past Super Regionals and No. 2 Michigan was eliminated by OU in the WCWS. OU actually cruised to the national title while losing just one game to Auburn in the championship series as its only loss throughout the entire NCAA tournament.
The No. 3 seed, at least on paper, again seemed to benefit the Sooners moreso this year than if they would have ended up with a top-2 seed compared to Alabama and Texas' potential matchups. OU will host Kansas, Michigan and Binghampton in the Norman Regional. The winner in Norman will then play in Super Regionals whoever comes out of the Eugene Regional between No. 14 national seed Oregon, Mississippi State, Saint Mary's and Idaho State.
Meanwhile, Bama was dealt the fourth and fifth-best pitching staffs in college softball based on ERA with Southeastern Louisiana and Belmont, respectively, in its regional. Texas will likely have to take on a dangerous Texas A&M team in Super Regionals that it already faced in a series during the regular season and won two of three.
The concept of the Sooners' No. 3 seed might be disrespectful, but it all actually favors Patty Gasso's squad.
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