Oklahoma was picked to finish second this season in the 2026 SEC Preseason Softball Poll, voted by the conference head coaches. In addition, four Sooners were named to the Preseason All-SEC Softball Team for the coming season.
Oklahoma received six of the 15 first-place votes, three fewer than No. 1 Texas, which outpaced the Sooners in the overall voting of the league coaches, 189-186. Tennessee (166 votes), Florida (144) and Arkansas (137) rounded out the top five.
Sooners picked to finish 2nd in SEC behind Texas
The Sooners were picked to finish third a year ago in their debut season in the SEC, but finished the season as regular-season conference champions with a 17-7 record in conference play and 52-9 overall.
Oklahoma returns eight starters from last season, including the four players selected to the Preseason All-SEC Team. Ella Parker and Kasidi Pickering, both juniors, were NFCA First-Team All-America selections last season and Pickering ended the 2025 season as an All-SEC First-Team honoree.
Sophomore shortstop Gabbie Garcia led the Sooners with 20 home runs last season and was an All-SEC Second-Team and All-SEC Defensive Team selection. Nelly McEnroe-Marinas, a redshirt sophomore, started all 61 games at third base for the Sooners a year ago and was named 2025 First-Team All-SEC.
Oklahoma and Texas led all SEC teams with four selections each to the 2026 Preseason All-SEC Softball Team. Florida had three players named to the team, and LSU and Arkansas had two each.
If the ESPN/USA Softball Preseason Collegiate Top 25 is any indication, the SEC is far and away the strongest college softball conference coming into the new season. Twelve of the 15 SEC team that compete in softball were ranked in the top 25 to begin the new campaign.
Prior to joining the SEC last season, Oklahoma had been picked to finish No. 1 in the Big 12 preseason poll for 12 consecutive seasons. Over that same time frame, head coach Patty Gasso's Sooners won the conference championship in 10 of the 12 seasons (the 2020 season was canceled because of the pandemic), as well as seven of their eight national championships.
Oklahoma opens the 2026 season on Thursday in Tempe, Arizona, against Arizona State. That will be followed by a three-game weekend series with No. 18 Arizona in Tucson.