There was a glaring omission from the Oklahoma Sooners’ 2027 SEC softball schedule, but maybe, just maybe, there’s something even better in store.
The SEC on Wednesday released all conference schedules for the 2027 college softball season. As usual in the toughest conference in softball, the Sooners were handed a loaded slate of worthy opponents, but for no known reason yet, the Texas Longhorns were nowhere to be found on the schedule.
Not only is the Red River Rivalry valued in all sports, not just football, but for softball, it also pits together the two most dominant programs of this decade that deserve the biggest stage and brightest spotlight annually.
OU 2027 SEC softball schedule
Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
March 12-14 | at Georgia |
March 19-21 | Missouri |
April 2-4 | at Tennessee |
April 9-11 | Florida |
April 16-18 | at Mississippi State |
April 23-25 | LSU |
April 30-May 2 | at South Carolina |
May 6-8 | Alabama |
May 11-15 | SEC Tournament (Madison, Alabama) |
Although Texas is missing from the schedule, there are still plenty of looming matchups that will excite OU fans, including home games against Missouri, Florida, LSU and Alabama at Love’s Field.
There will also be road trips to Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and South Carolina. That lineup includes 2026 Women’s College World Series teams Alabama and Tennessee, as the SEC made up half of the eight-team field last season, despite the Sooners not making it that far for the first time in nine years.
That schedule, though, is still unacceptable without the Red River Rivalry. Texas should be an annual opponent in every possible sport. In fact, until now, I assumed it was already written in stone that the Sooners and Longhorns met every year in every sport that both schools have a team. You can take away Bedlam or OU-Nebraska, but never the Red River Rivalry.
There’s still a chance OU and Texas meet in Madison, Alabama, in the SEC Softball Tournament. These two proven programs could also collide at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. Although both of those circumstances with raised stakes would add to the rivalry, neither is guaranteed. If upsets happen or brackets fall a certain way, then there would be no Red River Rivalry in 2027. The only other time that happened it took all sports being canceled in 2020.
No Red River Rivalry is also stealing attention away from all of college softball, not just these two programs. The Longhorns are back-to-back national champions, and before that, the Sooners had won four in a row. It’s been since UCLA in 2019 that someone other than one of these two rival programs has been the best team in the country.
No Red River Rivalry is unacceptable, but Patty Gasso has teased something special
The only reasonable explanation for why there’s no Red River Rivalry on the schedule right now is because there’s more in store. There haven’t been any reports, but OU head coach Patty Gasso has definitely teased something monumental for the Sooners in 2027 when she was on “The Oklahoma Breakdown with Gabe Ikard and Teddy Lehman" podcast back in May.
The GOAT left us speechless with this one...😳. pic.twitter.com/U518Ki1T1v
— The Oklahoma Breakdown with Ikard and Lehman (@OK_Breakdown) May 14, 2026
“There's lots of things that are coming in the future that I can't tell you about, but it's record-breaking," Gasso said. "And Oklahoma's leading that way. And it is gonna be absolutely amazing, and we're close to getting the OK to do it. But it has to do with a football stadium. Not ours."
Gasso’s comment immediately had fans dreaming, and most of our minds eventually went to the same place: softball’s version of the Red River Rivalry inside the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Or maybe even AT&T Stadium, which wouldn’t be as historic but would make room for a lot more fans.
It might have felt like a door was slammed shut on the Red River Rivalry, but maybe the door actually just got blown bigger.
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