After taking two of three games from former No. 1 Texas the weekend before last, Oklahoma moved into the top spot in all national college softball polls last week for the first time this season.
There were still some lingering questions, however, about the strength of the Sooners' schedule and whether they were truly deserving of being ranked at the top of the college softball pecking order. Oklahoma's softball reputation and national championship history definitely precedes it, but after following up its No. 1 ranking with two losses in four games last week, the general belief was that the Sooners claim to the nation's top spot would be relegated to a brief stopover.
When Softball America's Week 12 College Softball Top 25 came out on Monday, Nebraska, led by former OU All-America pitcher Jordy Bahl, had leapfrogged both Oklahoma and Alabama into the No. 1 position. But Oklahoma was No. 2, and still ahead of Alabama, the two teams that are tied at the top of the SEC standings.
There are probably quite a few fans, frankly, surprised to see the Sooners ranked as high as No. 2. If they were surprised on Monday, wait till they get the news from Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the weekly results of two other major college softball rankings -- the ESPN/USA Softball poll and the NFCA/GoRoute Coaches Poll -- were released. The voters of both those polls were of similar thought that Oklahoma's series win over then-No. 6 Arkansas, including a run-rule victory in the series finale, was impressive enough for the Sooners to retain their No. 1 ranking.
Oklahoma's shaky week doesn't lose Sooners respect
It also didn't hurt that OU's 11-1 win on Sunday was the 36-8 Razorbacks' worst loss in over a year.
Oklahoma (42-6, 15-3) received 13 of the 25, or 52%, of the first-place votes cast in the ESPN/USA Softball poll this week. Others receiving first-place votes were Alabama and Nebraska (5 each) and Texas (2). The Sooners also received 12 first-place votes in the NFCA Coaches Poll, but less than a majority (39%). First-place votes also went to Alabama (7), Nebraska and Texas Tech (4 each) and Florida and UCLA (2 each).
Eleven SEC teams were ranked in the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 and seven in the top 10. Ten SEC teams were ranked by Softball America this week, as well as in the NFCA Coaches Poll Top 25.
Read more: SEC Power Rankings: Conference depth continues to cause chaos and force movement
Oklahoma and Alabama are the only SEC teams that have won all six of their conference series this season. Unfortunately, the two teams do not play each other in the regular season. The Sooners' two remaining series are against ranked opponents in No. 11/13/15 Georgia at home this weekend and at No. 10/9/11 Texas A&M to close out the regular season.
SEC co-leader Alabama finishes up against No. 9/11/8 Tennessee in Knoxville this weekend and at home the following weekend, hosting South Carolina, No. 24 this week in the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25.
Add us as a preferred source on Google